President Donald Trump’s Cabinet has moved from one embarrassing blunder to the next in recent months, but insiders say the patience inside the White House is wearing thin over one name in particular: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
While Trump has a long history of distancing himself from controversy and letting subordinates absorb the fallout, he has shown a stubborn reluctance to actually fire anyone, even as headlines pile up and midterm anxiety sets in. That refusal, aides say privately, is fueling growing tension behind closed doors.
Now, after a bruising Senate hearing on Tuesday that critics say made Noem “look like a fool,” the internal pressure campaign appears to be accelerating.
According to a new report from Semafor, Noem has quietly become the Cabinet official some insiders most want gone before November — not because of one misstep, but because of a pattern they fear could become a liability Republicans can’t afford.
With control of Congress hanging on razor-thin margins and an increasingly unpopular administration threatening to drag candidates down-ballot, insiders say pressure is mounting behind the scenes to make an example out of someone — to prove the White House is willing to act before November makes the decision for them.
Noem, who has drawn ridicule for her heavily staged immigration enforcement appearances — and the nickname “ICE Barbie” that critics have pinned to her — has faced mounting scrutiny over a series of missteps, including the deaths of two Americans during a brutal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis in January.
The report cites an unnamed White House source who claims Noem sits “at the top of the list” of Cabinet officials some insiders want gone before November.
“The president’s instincts here are probably not to, but we’ve always wanted Kristi to go,” Semafor reported.
“He looks at it so differently than the rest of us … the biggest convincing factor for him would probably be, ‘Sir, we still are confident about the Senate, but if our margins go down even more, you’re going to have a very difficult time confirming who you want,’” the insider claimed.
More and more Republicans have also broken with the president and called for Noem to step down, especially after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the hands of DHS agents under Noem’s leadership.
In fact, the situation in Minneapolis got so bad under the former South Dakota governor, Trump replaced her with his border czar Tom Homan to handle the crackdown in Minnesota.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis says he can look past blunders from other cabinet members but Noem is a special case.
“Top on the list is Kristi Noem,” Tillis said, adding that there are “probably” others that fit the bill, “but I’m a very disciplined person, I can’t get past that one.”
But Trump has so far ignored calls to fire her even amid a growing list of outrageous actions and questionable personal behavior that’s weakening the authority of Homeland Security and even jeopardizing Trump’s immigration crackdown amid an ongoing fight in Congress over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It’s unclear why the president is protecting Noem as the blunders keep piling up.
But social media critics had their theories.
“They do not keep people because they are competent. They keep people because they are useful. If she stays after this much mess, it is because she is protecting someone or something,” wrote one Threads user.
“Her sex partner Corey Lewandowski who holds no official position other than being on top of Noem, is running DHS. The Nazi is being paid under the table,” another surmised.
And one asked bluntly, “What does she know?”
Noem is currently under fire at a Senate hearing Tuesday, where Tillis excoriated her in a blistering, nearly three-minute rebuke — and once again called for her resignation. He spoke uninterrupted.
“What we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem,” Tillis said. “What we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained that it turns out are American citizens.”
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He then pivoted to her past controversies, adding, “You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time and training. At that same lunch hour you killed a goat because it was behaving badly. Now you are stonewalling and that is why I’ve called for your resignation … I don’t want an applause … if I don’t get a response I will deny quorum and markup in as many committees as I can.”
Social media erupted after the grilling.
“Why do they keep calling her in to answer questions that we already know the answers to? Just fire her!!” fumed one viewer.
Another added, “Tillis is what all republicans should be at this point. Calling her out on pathetic and cruel farm animal skills as leadership hit home with her. Made her look like a fool. Good.”
Noem’s blunders have been making headlines almost since she took office 13 months ago.
A scathing report in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month pulled back the curtain on what it described as a chaotic, tension-filled culture inside the DHS — complete with abrupt firings, internal blowups and long-simmering rumors about a romantic relationship with top adviser Corey Lewandowski, even though she’s married.
She’s spurred public condemnation for showing up at press events and other outings dressed in cosplay gear, including as an ICE agent wearing tactical gear, a firefighter, and even a cowgirl, always in full makeup and wearing any number of hats.
