Given Trump's well established penchant for firing people, going a full year in office without a high-profile firing says something. But now Kristi Noem, aka ICE Barbie, the underqualified and always out-of-her-depth Secretary of Homeland Security, is out.

Jeez that took long enough! On Thursday, following a disastrous hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in which Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin tore Noem to shreds over her lavish spending habits and bloated self-image, President Trump announced he was firing Noem and installing another underqualified person, Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, as Homeland Security Secretary.

As the New York Times reports, the president is close to Senator Mullin and speaks to him frequently.

Noem will be moved into a previously nonexistent role with questionable duties: special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

Noem, the former governor of South Dakota who has never exactly come across as a top-brass mind in public appearances, has faced repeated questions from lawmakers and the media about the actions of ICE, and was one of the first to dub Renee Good a "terrorist" when she was killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis in early January. Raskin noted at Wednesday's hearing that Noem had until now refused to appear before his committee despite being in her job for 13 months.

As the Senate continues a protracted fight over the funding of the Homeland Security Department, in large part due to disagreements over Trump's immigration policy and the expansion of ICE, Noem's lavish spending came under fire this week. That spending includes two private jets she has used for travel around the country, and a reported $220 million for media consultant contracts — reportedly paid to a firm connected to the husband of Noem’s former spokeswoman — which produced cheesy, entirely unnecessary border security ads like one showing Noem on horseback in front of Mount Rushmore.

Senator Raskin pulled out a blown-up posterboard of this ad during Wednesday's hearing, as the Daily Beast reports, calling it "Lifestyles of Rich and Famous Cabinet Secretaries," and noting that the campaign was "shot during last year’s government shutdown."

Noem insisted that the contract went through a competitive bidding process and was "all ​done correctly, all done ​legally." But Trump has apparently thrown her under the bus, and is saying of the ad campaign, per Reuters, "I never knew anything about it."

Meanwhile, Noem has apparently been engaged in a widely known affair with Republican lobbyist and former Trump campaign advisor Corey Lewandowski, which the private jets have helped facilitate. Both Noem and Lewandowski are married to other people, and Raskin repeatedly referred to Noem and her "special government employee."

The Wall Street Journal covered the affair rumors and the "constant chaos" inside DHS in a piece last month, reporting that Lewandowski had initially sought to be installed as Noem's chief of staff, but Trump rejected the idea because he'd also heard about the romantic relationship.

The fight over funding DHS, which has been in a stalemate, is now going to be coupled with a potential fight over confirming Trump's new DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullins.

Incidentally, Mullins was just made fun of on the Daily Show Wednesday night for speaking out both sides of his mouth about the war with Iran, first insisting it is not a war, and then, of course, calling it a war.

Top image: U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on March 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Department of Homeland Security has faced criticism over it's handling of immigration enforcement leaving the department unfunded. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)