Tangle - Trump fires Kristi Noem.

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he will reassign Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to replace her as secretary. The decision marks the first announced departure of a cabinet secretary in the second Trump administration. Noem will be reassigned to the new anti-drug-trafficking office position of special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!The literacy crisis.A growing body of evidence suggests the United States is in a literacy crisis, with cascading consequences for younger generations. This issue reaches back decades, but some promising solutions are within reach, too. Drawing on the lessons from the “Southern Surge” in reading improvements, Associate Editor Audrey Moorehead takes stock of U.S. literacy education and makes the case for a national reading revival. You can read it here.You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: What do you think of Mullin replacing Noem? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, a place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of my take. I'm your host, Isaac Saul. Today is Monday, March 9th. And obviously, all eyes are on Iran right now. There was a ton of breaking news over the weekend.

We're starting to see some downstream impacts of the war. here in the U.S. with the price of fuel rising across the country. But today, we're actually going to be talking about what happened on Thursday, which was President Donald Trump announcing that he will reassign DHS Secretary Christine Nellum. Before we jump into that main story, though, I do want to give a quick plug for our Friday edition this week. It was written by Associated Editor Audrey Moorhead, and it was Audrey taking stock of U.S. literacy education and her, her case for a national reading revival. I love this piece. I thought it was super authentically, Audrey. It's a topic I've heard her talk about in person. And it's something I didn't know a ton about

or have a huge depth of knowledge on. So I learned a lot about it. And I also realized how big the body of evidence is that we are in a literacy crisis in the United States, which obviously has huge cascading implication. So I highly recommend that episode. If you scroll back, a few episodes in our feed. You'll find a preview of it if you're a free subscriber to the pod. If you're a member, you'll get the fully unlocked version. And with that, I do want to remind you that you can become a Tangle podcast member to get ad-free podcast and unlock all of our members-only editions,

which include interviews, the Friday editions, all sorts of special episodes and series that we pop up. You can do that by going to readtangle.com. com forward slash membership. You can subscribe to the bundle, which gets you the podcast and newsletter membership together, or you can just scroll down to the bottom of the page and become a podcast member. And if you do that on our website, it'll connect the podcast. And then it's really nifty. It just puts a premium podcast feed right in your podcast player. It connects to all sorts of podcast players. And then you'll get ad-free podcast and members-only shows. It's pretty sweet. And it takes

like a minute and a half maybe maximum. All right, with that, I'm going to send it over to John for today's main show, and I'll be back for my take. Thanks, Isaac, and welcome, everybody. Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend. We're going to get right into it with today's quick hits. First up, Iran's Assembly of Experts, chose Most about Hamene, the son of deceased leader Ayatollah Ali Hamine, as the country's new supreme leader.

Separately, Turkey's Ministry of National Defense said North Atlantic Treaty Organization defenses intercepted an Iranian missile entering Turkish airspace, the second such incident in the past week. Finally, U.S. Central Command announced a seventh U.S. service member death in the ongoing conflict with Iran. The service member was wounded in an Iranian attack on U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1st and later died from his injuries. Number two, President Trump said in an interview that Cuba is going to fall pretty soon,

adding that he plans to send Secretary of State Marco Rubio to negotiate. with the Cuban government. Number three, customs and border protection said it will establish a system for issuing tariff refunds following the Supreme Court's ruling, striking down duties levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The system is expected to be operational within 45 days. Separately, 24 states sued to challenge President Trump's new 15% global tariff, arguing the president improperly justified the duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of

1974. Number four, two people were arrested after allegedly igniting a pair of suspicious devices outside of Gracie Mansion, the New York City mayoral residence. The incident occurred during an anti-Islam protest and counter protest, and law enforcement said the suspects admitted to being inspired by ISIS. And number five, oil prices rose to over $119 per barrel, the highest price since mid-2020, amid shipping disruptions linked to the conflict in Iran. Within the last several hours, President Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Christy Knoem, and her firing comes after scrutiny over her handling of immigration enforcement. The Nob's response to three shootings in Minneapolis raised serious questions

and did the way she spent, as did the way, she spent $200 million of taxpayer money. On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he will reassign Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem and nominate Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, the Republican from Oklahoma, to replace her as secretary. The decision marks the first announced departure of a cabinet secretary in the second Trump administration. Nome will be reassigned to the new anti-drug trafficking office position of special envoy for the shield of the Americas. President Trump thanked Nome for her service on Thursday, writing that she has had numerous and spectacular results, especially on the border.

However, the president was reportedly angered by her claim during testimony last week before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that he signed off on a $220 million deal. DHS advertising campaign that prominently featured Noam. I never knew anything about it, Trump told Reuters on Thursday. Separately, lawmakers from both parties challenged Noam during the hearing on her response to the killings of two U.S. citizens by DHS agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota in January. In the aftermath of each incident, Noam claimed the victim's actions had constituted domestic terrorism and had put agents' lives in danger, comments she said she stood by in the

hearings. In a statement, Noam thanked President Trump for her new role with the Shield of the Americas, saying Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegsef are incredible leaders, and I look forward to working with them closely to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren. The new initiative, formally announced by Trump on Saturday, will coordinate countries in the Western Hemisphere on countering drug trafficking and cartels in the region. The effort coincided with joint operations between the U.S. and Ecuadorian militaries targeting drug traffickers. Senator Mullen is expected to replace Nome on March 31st. Mullen is a first-term senator and a vocal supporter of President Trump, particularly his immigration agenda.

The Senate must confirm Mullen before he can take office unless another person is appointed. Deputy DHS Secretary Troy Edgar will serve as acting secretary if Mullen is not confirmed by the end of the month. Additionally, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Slitt will appoint a replacement to fill the vacant seat until a new senator is elected in November. Today, we'll cover Nome's ouster and Mullen's nomination with views from the right and the right and the left, and then Isaac's take. We'll be right back after this quick break. All right. First up, let's start with what the right is saying. The right supports Trump's decision to remove Noam, with many hoping it will reorient DHS

toward more effective immigration enforcement. Some express optimism that Mulling can succeed as her replacement. Others say Noam's poor communication skills led to her firing. The Washington Examiner editorial board wrote about a welcome change of leadership at DHS. The seeds of Noam's ultimate firing came early in her tenure. A $220 million DHS advertising campaign ostensibly designed to promote self-deportation by illegal immigrants included many winceworthy scenes glamorizing Noam, the board said. Noam's little empire was built on sand and started to crumble first with the shooting death of anti-ice activist Renee Good

and accelerated with the death of Preti a short time later. On both occasions, Noam and her team rushed to issue statements to news outlets that later turned out to be false. Mullen is a passionate advocate for Trump's immigration policies, known for his confrontational and performative style. But although he has an aggressive demeanor, he has always seemed well-informed, with a thorough knowledge of his subject matter, the board wrote.

Nome's vanity project, some personal life, turned the DHS into a soap opera, squandering credibility when the country needed competence. Mullen won't fix every problem overnight, but he can restore basic professionalism, disciplined messaging, lawful priorities and a chain of command that respects facts. In USA Today, Dece Potis said,

Americans need a strong and functional Department of Homeland Security. Noam was never well-suited to her position, but she fit the Trump mold of making immigration enforcement a spectacle. That strategy got her the job, but it is also precisely what led to her losing at Potus wrote. Noam should have been fired long ago. Her mismanagement of the Department of Homeland Security was put front and center by the botched mini-eastern,

Minneapolis saga in which thousands of immigration and customs enforcement and border patrol officers flooded the streets in an attempt by the administration to grab headlines rather than actually deliver results on immigration. That haphazard approach led to the deaths of two protesters interfering with immigration enforcement and of whom Noem and others in the administration then decided to lie, Potus said. Whatever the motivation, it is good that Noem is out of DHS. She wasn't good at her job and lacked the basic human decency that is demanded by the office. I hope that Senator Mullen approaches the position with more humility and competence. Americans need a strong and functional Department of Homeland Security.

It was increasingly clear that Noam wasn't the one to provide that. In Red State, Jennifer Oliver O'Connell suggested, Noam was the architect of her own demise. Noam never shook that Ice Barbie photo op ditsy image, and it became more cemented with her less than stellar press conferences, particularly in critical moments for their agency. In her handling of the Minneapolis death of anti-ice activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Noam came off as offensive, incompetent, and out of her depth, O'Connell wrote.

The fact that Trump chose to position Homan for de-escalation and cleanup for a situation made it clear he had lost confidence in her ability to continue to lead not just Operation Metro Surge, but the agency. If Noam's lack of coordination and communication with Homan is any indication, she might have created these same disconnects with personnel within the entire DHS, O'Connell said. One of Mullen's jobs may well be to re-clarify the mission and unify the people tasked with its execution. His skill in finding consensus within the Senate body will serve him well in doing what Nome's singular focus on herself failed to accomplish. All right, that is it for what

the right is saying, which brings us to what the left is saying. The left supports Nome's removal, but says it was for the wrong reasons. Some worry that Mullen will continue DHS's immigration crackdown. Others say Nome created ongoing political crises for Trump. in D.C. report Terry A. Schwaudrin said, Noam was fired for all the wrong reasons. Trump did not fire Noam because she has overseen the fatal shootings of two citizens protesting ice tactics in Minneapolis, or for allowing untrained, camo-clad, anonymized paramilitary homeland security forces to grab migrants for deportation without judicial war in Schwaverner, wrote. He fired Noam because her performance at a congressional hearing was the last straw in embarrassment over buying herself two luxury jet planes.

for reportedly having a love affair with colleague Corey Lewandowski and for bad press. Trump did not fire her for failures to provide emergency aid through FEMA for what appeared to be outwardly political reasons or for ridding her departments of people who know something about Iranian counterintelligence at a time when we are in war, Schwarton said. We can praise Trump for recognizing that Nome was not up for the job for which he chose her out of political loyalty, but we can also be clear that he is doing it for the wrong reason. In The Guardian, Moira Donagan wrote, Nome's replacement won't be an improvement.

Nome became a figurehead of cruelty for DHS immigration policies. A fan of photo ops and publicity stunts, she traveled to El Salvador last week to pose in front of a cage full of shirtless, tattooed prisoners at Secoq, the massive prison camp to which many immigrants from the U.S. were summarily shipped without due process in the early months of the Trump administration, Donagin said. Noam made sure to contrast the brutality of the concentration camps where she was being photographed with her own quaffed, powdered, and surgically enhanced

appearance. Mullen, a close Trump ally and immigration maximalist, is unlikely to mark much of a departure from Nome, either in policy substance or managerial savvy. The mass deportations, self-dealing and aggressive, even seemingly contemptuous approach to citizens and their rights, seems likely to continue for as long as Trump, Miller, and their allies control the vast apparatus of the DHS, Donniken wrote. But Nome's departure, The first firing of a cabinet secretary in Trump's second term does reflect the president's profound political weakness as the nation heads toward the November midterms. In Bloomberg, Erica D. Smith suggested Nome's abuses at DHS went deeper than photo shoots. Noam forgot the first rule of working for Trump. Defend him, not yourself.

Instead, Nome has emulated Trump's performative toughness, callousness, and cruelty. She seemed to believe that she could keep her job by belligerently doubling down on his unpopular policy, Smith. said. That was another miscalculation. Although scenes of immigration agents dragging people from their homes and their underwear are getting less attention these days than the war in Iran, Americans haven't forgotten about the crackdown in Minneapolis that led to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. Just this week, a poll from U.Gov found that half of Americans want to abolish ICE, an all-time high. The biggest shift came from independence, the swinging voters who will decide control of Congress in the midterm elections, Smith wrote. That polling should be

taken as an indictment of Nome's leadership. It is also a political problem for Trump, given the dwindling support for his signature policy of mass deportations. And it's a boon for Democrats who are using it as political cover to continue to block funding to fully reopen the Department of Homeland Security. All right, let's head over to Isaac for his take. All right, that is it for the left and the writer's saying, which brings us to my take. Hey, look, Congress did something.

For as long as I've been writing publicly about politics, I've been criticizing Congress for giving up more and more of its authority to the executive branch. This issue has hit a fever pitch in the last few years with more power than ever surrendered by the rank in file to congressional leadership, the legislature forfeiting its most basic duties like tariffs, and U.S. senators now resorting to posting on X to beg Israel not to bomb certain infrastructure in Iran rather than, you know, vote. voting to take back their war powers. But Chrissy Noem's exit represents an increasingly rare moment where Congress did its job, executive branch oversight, and got a result, ousting an incompetent leader. On the suspension of the rules podcast this week, I nominated Senator John Kennedy, the Republican from Louisiana, as my good guy of the week for his questioning of Chrissy Noem. Some Tangle readers were skeptical of my praise, but I'll stand by it. Kennedy asked smart, direct questions. He wasn't theatrical, he didn't perform outrage for the cameras, and he wasn't grandstanding.

He just asked Noem the right questions in the right way for her damning answers to seal her own fate. Kennedy's method was almost certainly for President Trump's eyes alone, but it was much more effective than retiring Senator Tom Tillis, who used most of his time to berate Noam and try to generate viral clips. Kennedy's restraint and tact is also a stunning contrast to Noam's disastrous term at DHS. From her made-for-TV tough talk while cosplaying as a federal agent to self-dealing and corruption, to allegations of extramarital relationships at work, to her blatant lying about the American citizens killed by DHS agents

and the mistreatment of hundreds of citizens and non-citizens alike, it's been headline after headline of incompetence. That's why, somewhat unexpectedly, today's newsletter featured an agreed section. Commentators across the political spectrum are happy to see Noam go, albeit for different reasons. Of course, the pitfalls of Noam's appointment were easy to see coming. In November of 2024, I wrote in addition praising Trump's first round of picks for a second administration with one notable exception, Christy Noem. The only pick so far that really made me go yikes was the choice of Governor Christy Noam, the Republican from South Dakota, I wrote in 2024.

Noam obviously has some experience serving as a state executive is one of the most important and difficult jobs there is, and she won re-election in a landslide in 2022. But this is one of the most powerful jobs in the country, and her policy record on the signature Trump issue of immigration is scant. Aside from supporting Trump's so-called Muslim ban, she legislated very little on the issue in Congress and naturally has not had much of a role to play on immigration as governor of South Dakota. She hasn't exactly proven herself capable of navigating the national spotlight either. As pro-Trump pundit Sean Davis put it, Noam is a lightweight and a completely unsurious person

and she's not remotely suited to the most important border security cabinet position in the entire government, end quote. So, no, I'm not surprised that Noam's tenure is coming to an unceremonious end. The question now is whether leadership change will make a meaningful difference. In a lot of ways, Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, the Republican from Oklahoma, is a confounding choice. Most of my criticism of Noam from 2024 also applies to Mullen now. He has no law enforcement experience, sits on no committee related to the Department of Homeland Security,

and has no signature pieces of immigration-related legislation. He is, in short, another risky pick, who, like Noam, has had some ugly public moments, like when he challenged the Teamsters president to a fight during a congressional hearing, and a lightweight resume for the task at hand. If I were Mullen, I'm also not so sure. I'd take the job. Leading DHS comes with a lot of power, but with Trump's focus on immigration enforcement, it also shines a particularly bright spotlight on the position that few are equipped to handle. Not to mention, the agency is in disarray as Noam departs. Oh, and one more thing,

it's currently shut down. Yet Mullen is a Trump loyalist, and when the president comes calling, you're supposed to step up. Mullen has a few things going for. He seems less scripted and more genuine than Noam, and I suspect he'll be a much more effective messenger of the president's agenda. He has a track record of connecting with voters as an every man and is a senator from Oklahoma, which is much more impacted by what happens at the border than Noam's home state of South Dakota was. I'm optimistic that Mullen can improve on Noam's abrasive style, too. Not long after he was tapped, he told reporters that while he is a conservative Republican, he'd try to work across the aisle to ensure all Americans are kept safe. That kind of tone is a notable departure for,

from the outgoing secretaries, but will that tone shift just put a new face on the same policies or genuinely reset strategy approach and goals? As I do for all politicians, I'll remain skeptical of Mullen's promises and posture until we see him in action. After all, this is the same lawmaker who promised to leave after three terms in Congress, then serve five, and then became a U.S. Senator. Mullen says he changed his mind on his promise after Trump won the presidency. especially notable for me personally is that Oklahoma is part of the Big Bend sector, which I've been writing about recently because of a resurrected plan to build a wall through national and state parks there. I'll be keeping a close eye on how Mullen navigates

the situation there with presumably a more intimate knowledge of the region and with his background as a member of the Cherokee Nation. He has not exactly been an advocate of public lands and environmental protection, but he also seems to have a genuine love for the great outdoors, narrow conservation efforts, and the Wild West. What does he do when his hardline border policies run headfirst into a proposal that many of his constituents and Texans are going to loathe? We'll see. That will be just one of many tests ahead. For now, all eyes are on Iran, but this pick may have more important long-term impacts on day-to-day life for Americans and our neighbors. That's especially true given the DHS funding fight and its oversight of TSA and FEMA. Personally, I'll be approaching Mullen's appointment with an open mind and some baseline gratitude that he isn't Chrissy Noem.

We'll be right back after this quick break. All right, that is it for my take, which brings us to your questions answer. This one's from Rochelle in Minnesota. Rochelle said, I'm curious to know the difference between refugees, TPS, asylum seekers, green card holders, up to citizenship. What is illegal and how the status changes lately, etc.? Okay. these are all different distinctions of non-citizens who are inside the United States. Broadly speaking, legal status, authorized or unauthorized, just refers to whether an immigrant

is in compliance with the requirements of their designation, which will describe an order of least to most privileges below. So, a border crosser. Many visitors with a valid passport and proper visa can stay in the United States for up to six months, and some people without passports from participating countries can stay for lesser periods based on their visa. Anyone who crosses the border illegally is in the country without authorization and is susceptible to being detained and or removed.

TPS stands for temporary protected status. That's a designation granted by the Department of Homeland Security to nationals from countries that make it difficult or unsafe to be deported there. TPS can apply to any non-citizen who applies for it during designated periods and has been continuously in the country since the date of designation and is not subject to inadmissibility. For example, people who have committed felonies can be deported regardless of their country's designation. An asylum seeker is a foreign national who can apply for asylum because they fear persecution, the refugee definition under international law.

If given asylum and then granted parole, asylees are often able to remain in the country with a work permit while their case is reviewed, which can sometimes take a year or more. A refugee is a foreign national who has the same credible fear as an asylum seeker, but who has been approved for the U.S. Refugee admissions program before arriving in the U.S. Refugees are permitted to work and have access to social services like Medicaid. They are required to apply for lawful permanent resident,

that's a green card status, one year after being admitted. And then finally, there are green card holders, which are lawful permanent residents who have been approved to live and work in the United States under some conditions. Residents fall under various restrictions that are complicated to describe, but we've talked about them before on the show, and they typically apply for naturalization after living here with a green card for several years. Finally, is citizens, which is any immigrant who has complied with the requirements of their residency, applied for citizenship, and passed their examination, which makes them naturalized as a U.S. citizen. Under the law, there's no difference in

rights afforded to native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens. All right, that is it for your questions answered. I appreciate that one, Rochelle. We're going to send it back to John for the rest of the pod, and I'll see you guys tomorrow. Have a good one. Peace. Thanks, Isaac.

Here's your under-the-radar story for today, folks. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Commerce Department officials have drafted new regulations that would expand U.S. government control over exports of artificial intelligence chips, requiring government approval for chipments to any country. Currently, these export controls are in place for a problem. approximately 40 countries, but the potential regulation would cover all countries. If enacted, the rule could significantly impact AI development worldwide, as access to AI chips, like those

sold by Nvidia, are prerequisite to building facilities for training and running AI models. Bloomberg has this story, and there's a link in today's episode description. And last but not least, R have a nice day story. The neglected tropical disease leprosy, which can lead to permanent nerve damage if left untreated, persists in more than one of 120 countries around the globe. This month, Chile became the first country in the Americas and the second worldwide to reach an elimination status for the disease. This milestone reflects decades of sustained public health efforts, including prevention strategies, early diagnosis, effective treatment, continuous follow-up, and the commitment of health teams across the country,

Jimena Aguilera, Chile's Minister of Health said. The World Health Organization has this story, and there's a link in today's episode description. All right, everybody, that is it for day's episode. As always, if you'd like to support our work, please go to reetangle.com, where you can sign up for a newsletter membership, podcast membership, or a bundled membership they get to a discount on both. We'll be right back here tomorrow. For Isaac and the rest of the crew, this is John Law, signing off. Have a great day, y'all. Peace. Our executive editor and founder is me. Isaac Saul and our executive producer is John Law. Today's episode was edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Our editorial staff is led by managing editor Ari Weissman

with senior editor Will Keeback and associate editors Audrey Moorhead, Lindsay Canuth, and Bailey Saul. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. To learn more about Tangle and to sign up for a membership, please visit our website at retangle.com.