Noem's Ouster and the MAGA Purge: Trump Tightens Grip on the Republican Party Ahead of the Midterms

On March 5, 2026, in his social network Truth Social, Donald Trump announced the dismissal of Kristi Noem from the position of U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and announced that the next head of this federal agency would be Republican Senator from Oklahoma Markwayne Mullin.

Noem will relinquish her powers on March 31, 2026, becoming the first dismissed member of the current Republican Cabinet. She will then take up the position of U.S. special envoy in the "Shield of the Americas" initiative—a coalition of Western Hemisphere states created to coordinate countermeasures against organized crime and drug cartels.