Ex-DHS chief Kristi Noem quietly moves to new State Department role

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has quietly moved into a new role at the State Department after her special envoy status expired last month, CNN reports.

President Donald Trump fired her from his Cabinet earlier this year after multiple controversies at the Department of Homeland Security. She then joined the State Department as special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas,” which focuses on the security of the Western Hemisphere.

A State Department official told CNN she will continue working on similar matters. “Kristi Noem’s envoy status expired last month and she is no longer in the role,” the official said. “She is now a Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary Landau and continues to work on the Shield of the Americas portfolio.”

In a statement on X on Friday, Noem said the special envoy role “was always a six-month appointment.”

Last month, at a Shield of Americas meeting during the UN General Assembly, Trump praised her. “I want to thank Kristi Noem for doing a really terrific job,” he said.

Her ouster in March followed her claim to lawmakers that Trump approved her agency’s lavish spending on an advertising campaign that prominently featured her. Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy said Trump “was pissed.” Trump told NBC News he didn’t know about the campaign and “wasn’t thrilled with it.”

Within two days of the hearing, Trump called Noem to say he had decided to fire her. He named then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as her replacement.

Before joining the administration, Noem was governor of South Dakota and an early Trump endorser ahead of his 2024 run.