While sitting in my GOVT3610 Fables of Capitalism class, I heard a buzz — a recognizable buzz to those like myself, who are glued to their phone — it was a New York Times “Breaking News” banner. With the recent U.S. involvement in Venezuela and Iran, I was getting more daily breaking news notifications than hours of sleep at night. But this one read something different: “Trump Ousts Noem as Homeland Security Secretary.”

An audible gasp left my mouth, turning the heads of a few peers around me. I quickly tapped the notification and lasered through the words, absorbing as much as I could, while my professor explained the prelim structure in the background. 

I left the lecture with two conclusions: The Trump administration is bleeding out and I may fail this exam.

Kristi Noem was cold and reckless in delivering her agenda as the face of the administration's deportation program. On March 3, she was grilled at a Senate Judiciary hearing for the fall-out of the Minneapolis protests and the halt to DHS funding. Both Republican and Democrat senators joined efforts in condemning Noem for misspending hundreds of millions of dollars in an ad-campaign. The hearing barely scraped the surface of injustices perpetrated by the former secretary. 

I first remember my disdain for her in June 2025. I was interning in the Senate; logging the cases of Connecticut constituents worried for their healthcare, SNAP benefits, housing and so much more. It was around that same time California Sen. Alex Padilla (D) was thrown to the ground and detained at a conference given by former Secretary Noem. Being in the very building Senator Padilla worked in, with the surrounding TVs broadcasting the No Kings and Anti-ICE........

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