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When Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would remove Kristi Noem from her position as head of the Department of Homeland Security, she became the first Cabinet casualty of the president’s second term. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that though Noem “has served us well” and “has had numerous and spectacular results,” she will be replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. Noem will now be Trump’s “special envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” a made-up position at some new initiative that he intends to launch this weekend.

It’s never a good day to be fired, but Noem’s departure comes at a particularly unfortunate moment for her. Trump handed down his decision after Noem spent two days floundering under questioning in Congress, during which lawmakers from both parties made her out to be an unqualified, amoral disgrace to her job.

First, in the Senate on Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats excoriated her for accusing Alex Pretti of domestic terrorism after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot him to death, bringing additional pain on his grieving family. GOP Sen. Thom Tillis called for Noem’s resignation, comparing the killings of Pretti and Renee Good under her leadership to the time she killed her own dog for misbehaving. Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, gave her grief for spending more than $200 million on an ad campaign that boosted her public profile and funneled public funds to a Noem-connected company that was formed just days before it secured the government contract.

Noem said under oath that ICE was complying with court orders, even though one judge determined that the agency had violated orders 96 times in January alone. “Either you are utterly incompetent, or you are violating laws with impunity,” Sen. Cory Booker told her.

The next day, in front of the House Judiciary Committee, the grilling continued. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, of Maryland, pointed out that ICE had committed two of the three homicides in Minneapolis so far this year; Noem banned Minnesota investigators from the scenes of the killings, casting doubt on her commitment to fighting crime.

Then, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a Democrat from California, introduced a new line of questioning: “At any time during your tenure as director of Department of Homeland Security have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?”

Whispers of an alleged affair between the former South Dakota governor and the longtime Trump ally–slash–alleged abuser have been simmering since 2019, when they started appearing at GOP events together. Though both have denied it, the rumor gained strength and credibility last year as Lewandowski was repeatedly photographed coming and going from Noem’s D.C. apartment.

Noem, whose husband was in the hearing room on Wednesday, acted scandalized by Kamlager-Dove’s inquiry. “I am shocked that we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today,” she said. As Noem prattled on about how she is devoted to protecting America and how Lewandowski is a “special government employee”—meaning that he’s not officially on the DHS roster and does not draw a salary—Kamlager-Dove spoke over her. “It is OK for you to be offended by the question,” she said. “But it is also a real question, and you should be able to answer the question clearly and without hesitation.”

The representative went on. “That should be the easiest—you should be wanting to answer that question. Because it is not about your sex life. It is about your judgment.”

Noem bristled. “It is offensive that you have brought that up. That kind of garbage has been refuted for years,” she said.

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Kamlager-Dove wrapped up her questioning by entering a series of news articles into the congressional record. Noem shot knives from her eyes as the representative read out the headlines: “Lewandowski Taking Out Trash at Noem’s D.C. Home.” “ICE Barbie’s Mile-High Privacy Chamber with Alleged Lover Exposed.” “How Corey Lewandowski Became Kristi Noem’s Gatekeeper at DHS.”

The next Democrat to question Noem, Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, gave her one more chance to deny the affair under oath. “I really think you need to say the word no into the record so that you can clear that up,” he said. Noem dismissed Moskowitz as a member of the “liberal media”: “You say conservative women are stupid or sluts. I am neither,” she said.

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If you’re keeping track at home, you’ll notice that Noem never actually refuted the affair allegation, which may be the most convincing evidence yet that it’s true. The whole scene was a humiliating spectacle for a woman who, in the MAGA tradition, usually seems incapable of being shamed for any misconduct, including the several dozen deaths and countless instances of abuse on her watch.

The embarrassment continued on Thursday, when Trump announced Noem’s firing on Truth Social right as she was giving a speech at a law-enforcement conference. No one at the scene brought up her termination during the Q&A portion, and it’s not clear that she even knew she’d been let go. But everyone surely found out immediately after the fact, making her look like a total chump for having just given a sweeping address as the supposed head of homeland security.

It was a final flourish of degradation, courtesy of Trump, to end an ignominious tenure at the helm of DHS. It cannot compare to the magnitude of damage Noem has done to people’s lives, but it feels like some measure of justice that her last days in the Cabinet may have been her worst.

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