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Democrats celebrated Kristi Noem’s firing as the Homeland Security secretary on Thursday, while calling for more heads to roll among President Donald Trump’s more controversial aides and advisers.
“Kristi Noem will go down as the most shamelessly incompetent and cruel Homeland Security Secretary in U.S. history,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X. “Firing her is not enough. NOEM, GREG BOVINO, and STEPHEN MILLER all must be held accountable for terrorizing and endangering the American people.”
Several other potential 2028 presidential candidates were quick to join the chorus applauding the move, seizing on the opportunity to push for further personnel changes at the highest levels of the Trump administration.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also warned in a video posted to social media that Noem would still “be held accountable.”
“Hey, Kristi Noem, don't let the door hit you on the way out,” he said. “Here's your legacy: corruption and chaos, parents and children were teargassed. Moms and nurses, U.S. citizens, getting shot in the face. Now that you're gone, don't think you get to just walk away.”
Noem’s impending departure — Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social that she’ll soon become the inaugural “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas” — brings to a close a tumultuous yearlong stint at the agency. Trump also announced that he intends to tap Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to replace Noem atop the department.
Noem is the most senior administration official to depart thus far in Trump’s second term.
But Democrats were quick to signal they were not satisfied with her exit, swiftly calling for Trump to axe other Cabinet-level officials. Both House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) urged Trump to fire embattled Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), meanwhile, said Trump should cut loose Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. next. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also celebrated Noem’s ouster.
Noem came under bipartisan fire for her alleged relationship with Trump ally Corey Lewandowski, which she denies, and for labeling two Minnesota protesters killed by federal law enforcement in January “domestic terrorists.”
The former South Dakota governor also faced questions about a $220 million DHS ad campaign, testifying during a Tuesday congressional hearing that Trump approved the spending — a claim he later denied in an interview with Reuters.
“Time and time again, Secretary Noem failed the American people and her duty to the Constitution,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) wrote on X. “This was particularly true in how she oversaw ICE. Her departure demonstrates that if you don’t uphold the most basic American values, the American public wants you gone."
Several Democratic lawmakers also indicated that Noem’s departure does not change their demands surrounding funding for DHS and for reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid an ongoing partial government shutdown.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that ICE faces deeper problems that cannot be addressed with a single personnel change.
"The problems at ICE transcend any one individual. ... It goes beyond any one person,” he said Thursday. “You need to straighten out the whole agency. The rot there is deep."
Republicans, meanwhile, largely fell in lockstep behind Mullin — who said Thursday he was “excited about the opportunity” — and he will likely face a smooth confirmation process. Some Republican lawmakers acknowledged that a leadership shakeup at DHS was overdue.
“It was time for a change,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote in a social media post, while Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said the decision was “good for the president and his legacy on border and deportation.”
Cheyanne M. Daniels contributed to this report.
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