Trump Picks Another Loyalist to Replace Noem at DHS

Following a string of negative headlines and a couple of disastrous appearances on Capitol Hill this week, Kristi Noem is out as the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Donald Trump announced Thursday that he plans to replace the scandal-plagued former governor of South Dakota with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) at the end of the month.

“A MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter, Markwayne truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda,” the president said in a social media post announcing the change.

He added that Noem would become the first “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.”

While Trump thanked her for her service at the helm of DHS, it is hardly surprising that Noem is the first member of the Cabinet to depart in his second term.

At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, it became clear that even some Republican lawmakers were fed up with her scandal-plagued tenure at the head of the department tasked with implementing the president’s signature immigration and deportation policies.

While she drew the ire of Democrats for referring to Alex Pretti, the Veterans Affairs nurse killed in broad daylight in Minnesota in January by masked federal agents, as a “domestic terrorist” and refusing to apologize for that mischaracterization, that’s not the kind of thing that gets someone fired from the Trump administration.

After all, Mullin called Pretti a “deranged individual who came in to cause max damage with a loaded pistol with an extra mag.”

The senator also isn’t an upgrade in the competence department.

While he is a favorite of cable news shows, Mullin rarely has anything intelligent to contribute and often raises eyebrows with his ignorance.

Last week, for example, the senator, who sits on the Armed Forces Committee, was apparently unaware that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who died in 1989, was no longer the ruler of Iran.

Instead, what did Noem in were the kind of issues someone like Trump would care about: a $220 million ad campaign featuring herself and not the president; allegations that some of that money found its way into the pockets of her associates; rumors of an affair with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was a “special government employee” at DHS; and the purchase of luxury jets for the department.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and (especially) FBI Director Kash Patel, who has his own plane issues, should take note that these are the kinds of things that get Cabinet officials fired in this administration.

One thing that is not in doubt is that Mullin meets the most important job requirement for serving under Trump: unconditional loyalty.

In numerous Sunday morning show appearances, he has demonstrated that, while he may not be able to defend the president’s priorities intelligently or even coherently, he will defend them fervently.