罢免克里斯蒂·诺姆（Kristi Noem）国土安全部部长职务的决策内幕

Inside the decision to remove Kristi Noem as DHS secretary

March 5, 2026 / 6:08 PM EST / CBS News

The decision to replace Kristi Noem as Department of Homeland Security secretary came together quickly, and the timing of President Trump’s announcement caught many across DHS off guard, even as tensions had been building for weeks between Noem and the White House, according to senior White House and DHS officials.

Though many officials within DHS conceded that the writing was on the wall, the exact timing of the president’s Truth Social post announcing that he intended to replace her with Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma took DHS officials and the secretary herself by surprise. The post went up during her live remarks as the keynote speaker at Sergeant Benevolent Association Major Cities Conference in Nashville, although just before she took the stage, the president briefly spoke with her by phone to inform her of his decision.

Following the controversial immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and fatal shootings of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, administration officials tell CBS News the aggressive tactics used by ICE and CBP had become politically problematic nationwide, drawing criticism not only from Democrats but also from some supporters of the president’s immigration agenda who viewed the operations as overly broad and poorly executed.

Inside DHS, the president’s earlier decision to put border czar Tom Homan in charge of winding down the Minneapolis operation — effectively sidelining Noem — was widely viewed as an early sign of Trump’s dissatisfaction with her performance.

The backlash against Noem’s statements regarding Pretti and Good corresponded with a quiet shift in enforcement strategy in recent weeks. Officials said under Homan’s leadership, the administration moved away from sweeping urban enforcement operations and refocused efforts on arresting immigrants in the country illegally who also have criminal records. The departure of top border official Gregory Bovino, a vocal field commander charged with the earlier operations in LA and Chicago, also reflected that recalibration.

Several officials said that in the weeks following the Minneapolis controversy, both Noem and Lewandowski had lost support from key figures inside the White House, even after they appealed directly to both the president and senior White House officials in an effort to salvage their standing.

According to two people familiar with the matter, Trump’s frustrations were also evident during a tense conversation late Wednesday with longtime adviser Corey Lewandowski, which centered in part on controversial advertising spending by DHS — roughly $220 million — that had drawn scrutiny from the administration and on Capitol Hill.

Inside DHS, another source of friction stemmed from a directive Noem issued in June 2025 to require her personal written approval for contracts, grants and funding obligations above $100,000. Although she intended to tighten oversight, officials said the policy created significant backlogs for what they described as mission-critical funding, including disaster relief programs run by FEMA.

Senior officials across DHS also complained privately about what they described as the micromanagement of contracts and operational decisions by Noem and Lewandowski, which they said undermined the trust of leaders who run major DHS components.

A series of smaller controversies also drew attention inside the administration, including the so-called