Overview
- Trump reassigned Noem as special envoy for the new Shield of the Americas initiative, and she appeared with him in Doral to deliver brief remarks in that role.
- Sen. Markwayne Mullin is set to take over as DHS secretary effective March 31 pending Senate confirmation, with the White House signaling the current immigration agenda will continue.
- Congressional scrutiny of a $220 million DHS advertising campaign featuring Noem is intensifying, with senators probing contracting, potential false testimony, and reports of Corey Lewandowski’s influence on awards.
- Noem’s tenure drew bipartisan criticism after DHS operations in Minneapolis left two U.S. citizens dead and after she labeled a slain Veterans Affairs nurse a domestic terrorist before investigations concluded.
- Axios reported that a DHS-leased Boeing aircraft was loaned to First Lady Melania Trump as an “insurance policy” by Noem’s team, an account not confirmed by the White House or DHS.