Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been mocked online after it was revealed who her manager will be in her new role after Donald Trump fired her earlier in March.
The ex-governor of South Dakota was once considered a potential candidate during Trump’s vice presidential search, and went on to lead the agency in charge of executing Trump’s anti-immigration agenda.
Now, following her ouster, she is going to serve as the “Special Envoy to the Shield of the Americas,” which her critics have branded a made-work gig in Trump’s new military coalition.
Not only will Noem no longer lead her own department, but she won’t even be answering to the head of a department. According to CBS News reporter Olivia Gazis, Noem will be answering to Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau, not Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Noem was fired from her position on March 5, giving her the unwanted distinction of being the first Cabinet secretary Trump has kicked out since the start of his second term.
Noem was predictably roasted online after the shakeup, with one social media user calling up a reference to The Office to joke that she’d become the “Assistant Regional Manager to the Deputy Secretary of State.”
Several other users posted photos of Noem’s “new uniform,” which were just various images of clowns.
The former governor found herself in the hot seat over a $220 million DHS ad campaign that she approved. The ads featured Noem riding around on horses near Mount Rushmore.
When asked by Congress if Trump had approved the ads, Noem said he had. Trump said he had not been consulted on the ads, had not approved them and only learned about them via a news report.
“I wasn’t thrilled with it. I spent less money than that to become president. I didn’t know about it,” he told NBC News.
Shortly after that hearing, Trump announced that former Senator Markwayne Mullin would take over at DHS, and Noem would be shuffled off to the Shield of the Americas. Noem was in the middle of a speech when Trump announced his decision to the public.
Despite the obvious downgrade, Noem thanked Trump for the position.
“Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” she wrote on X.
The decision to push Noem out has been met with furor by senior DHS officials, who are now challenging the White House to audit the department’s advertising contracts.
Sources inside DHS reportedly told The Daily Beast that the White House was well aware of and deeply involved in the ads, rejecting Trump’s claims of ignorance.
Two of those sources told the outlet that Trump “knew about the campaign and wanted it to happen.”
The sources also questioned where all of the $220 million spent on the ads went. The company Noem paid to produce the ads has links to the Republican Party and was formed only eight days before it received the commission. There was no bidding competition to receive the contract.
The Independent has requested comment from the White House.
