Wall Street Journal cheers Noem ouster, calls for changes to immigration enforcement

The Wall Street Journal editorial board praised President Trump’s decision to “finally” replace Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and called for more changes to immigration enforcement. 

“While Mr. Trump praised Ms. Noem’s “spectacular results,” there’s no mistaking this move as anything other than a fed-up President cutting loose an aide who made herself into a serious liability,” the board wrote on Thursday. 

The criticism comes as DHS remains shutdown as Democrats have hesitated to approve funding after two fatal shootings in Minnesota earlier this year by federal agents prompted calls for reforms to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

The House passed its legislation to reopen the department with the help of four Democrats on Thursday. The bill, however, faces an uphill battle in the Senate after Democrats blocked the latest iteration later in the day.

“The Department of Homeland Security currently is operating in shutdown mode, without funding. Ms. Noem’s testimony before the Senate on Tuesday could have been a chance to put Democrats on the spot for refusing to fund DHS at a time of heightened threats, as Mr. Trump bombards the terrorist regime in Iran,” the Journal‘s board continued, referring to joint strikes the U.S. and Israel launched on Tehran last weekend.

“Instead, the headlines were about Ms. Noem’s floundering, including under hard questions from Republican Senators,” it added.

The DHS chief was faced with hard questioning from both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees this week. Including scrutiny over her stay in Coast Guard housing earlier this year and controversy around a $220 million ad campaign.

Trump, who has pushed back on assertions he approved the ads, announced Thursday that Noem would be reassigned to serve as special envoy of “The Shield of the Americas” — a new role focused on the Western Hemisphere. In his post on Truth Social, the president also named Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) as his pick to take over DHS.

The Journal’s board expressed hope for Mullin, whose nomination requires approval from Congress.

The writers said the senator could be successful in the role if he is “better at execution, more steady and less blatantly self-promotional than Ms. Noem, who seems sometimes to think that the first task of governing is winning meme wars on social media.”

They added that Trump ousting the former South Dakota governor could also be a “political improvement” by removing controversies surrounding Noem, including the ad buy and criticism around her connection to aide Corey Lewandowski.

The board pointed to the administration’s decision to put Tom Homan in Minneapolis after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti as an example of a “good step” for Trump.

The op-ed described Homan as a “professional who talks about prioritizing public safety and conducting ‘targeted’ [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] against known illegal aliens in a humane fashion.”

“If Mr. Mullin is confirmed by the Senate, he can help the President by following the Homan approach and explaining it consistently without the political melodrama,” the board concluded.

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