Why Kristi Noem’s firing took so long as she wrecked DHS and damaged Donald Trump
Many critics have called Noem's tenure a 'slow motion train wreck'
By Howard Kurtz Fox News
Published March 9, 2026 3:00am EDT
We can now openly admit what has been unfolding before our eyes for a year: that Kristi Noem was an utter, complete, total catastrophe, her tenure in charge of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) little more than a self-promoting crusade.
She was unqualified for the job from day one, and largely responsible for the awful excesses of ICE and the frustrating failures of FEMA.
President Donald Trump's decision to fire her, which took way too long, liberates many Republicans to acknowledge what many in the media, including me, along with Democrats and outside critics, have been saying all along: Noem was a slow-motion train wreck.
The former South Dakota governor had no experience in national security issues, and that became painfully evident.
This is a woman so determined to project the image of a tough cowgirl that when she wrote a memoir, she boasted about having shot her dog because she hated the pet. Talk about a self-inflicted wound.
This is a woman who trashed two American citizens tragically killed by ICE by calling them domestic terrorists, and in one case an agitator. And refused to take it back.
The proper response was simple: This is awful, we feel terrible for the family, we are investigating, and I'll report back when we have more information. How hard is that?
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