Trump ousts Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary - USA Today

"We're excited," Mullin told USA TODAY, saying he had just spoken with Trump.

Trump said Noem would become special envoy for The Shield of the Americas, his initiative for security against narcotics trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.

"I never knew anything about it," Trump told Reuters in a phone interview.

Noem faced scrutiny over DHS ad campaign

The ads prominently featured Noem, including in a scene filmed on horseback at Mount Rushmore in the former South Dakota governor's home state.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, asked Noem on March 3 about the contract for ads “that feature you prominently.” Kennedy asked if Trump approved the spending ahead of time and she replied, “Yes.”

“They were effective in your name recognition,” Kennedy said. “To me, it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot.”

Kennedy said the contractor was not competitively bid. One of the subcontractors is married to Noem’s former spokesperson, Kennedy said.

“It’s hard for me to believe, knowing the president as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here are some ads I’ve cut and we’re going to spend $220 million running them,’ that he would have agreed to that,” Kennedy said. “It’s something we have to defend.”

Noem said the commercials told immigrants without legal authority to be in the country they must leave or they would be detained and deported. She said she had discussed the ad campaign with Trump and he approved the campaign ahead of time.

“We had that conversation, yes, before I was put in this position and sworn in and confirmed, and since then as well,” Noem said. “We went through the legal processes, did it correctly.”

The news seemed to shock senators of both parties.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, said he needed time to consider whether to support Mullin’s confirmation.

“I don’t know,” Murphy said. “I literally heard about it two seconds ago.”

“Give me time to process it,” said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Asked if he supported Trump firing Noem, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, “It’s not my call.”

The removal comes as the Department of Homeland Security is partially shut down because of a dispute in congress over Trump’s immigration crackdown as Democrats have demanded policy changes such as requiring immigration enforcement.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said the decision to remove Noem may “well enable” Democrats to support ending the shutdown. But he said that will still only happen if the White House agrees to significant reforms of the agency such as a ban on mask-wearing for agents.