Although firings were a regular occurrence during Donald Trump's first presidency, they have been the exception rather than the rule since his return to the White House on January 20, 2025. Trump is surrounding himself with unquestioning MAGA loyalists, and there hasn't been nearly as much turnover this time. But Trump has fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and nominated Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) as a replacement.
Salon's Amanda Marcotte, in a biting article published on March 6, described Noem as someone who "excelled in debasing herself to please her boss" — and even altered her physical appearance — only to get fired anyway. Meanwhile, the New York Times' Frank Bruni weighs in on Noem's departure in his March 9 newsletter, citing her as a glaring example of the incompetence that continues to plague Trump's second administration.
"She's unprofessional," Bruni says of Noem. "During her mercifully terminated stint as the homeland security secretary, she made extravagant claims without much if any attempt to ascertain their veracity. She used government resources in questionable ways. She treated public service as private amusement. That's not how true professionals behave. But it's how many senior officials in the Trump Administration do. And it's a big part of my and many other observers' profound apprehensions about the military strikes in Iran."
Bruni adds, "We can't trust that they got the degree of deliberation that war demands. We can't assume temperance, reflection, rationality. Those hallmarks of professionalism aren't values to which the Trump Administration subscribes."
From FBI Director Kash Patel to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Bruni laments, Trump has consistently low standards when it comes to nominees.
"There's a tendency to talk of Noem, Patel and their perk-minded compatriots as grifters," Bruni explains. "The appellation certainly fits. It's tempting to focus on the inadequate experience and kooky beliefs of flamboyant strivers — from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, to Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence — whom Trump has elevated to the top tiers of government. But that obscures and gives short shrift to their fundamental sloppiness, selfishness, disregard for proper procedure, evasion of accountability. They simply don't do their jobs — or at least don't do them earnestly, maturely and competently."
Bruni continues, "That was clear early on, when the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, used the messaging app Signal for a group chat that discussed sensitive military information, then dismissed any complaints about that cavalierly — an adverb that, when coupled with spitefully, covers about 99 percent of his behavior. It's clear when lawyers for the Justice Department — Alina Habba, Lindsey Halligan, Jeanine Pirro — have their cases thrown out or their appointments voided. When their boss, Pam Bondi, the attorney general, shows up at a congressional hearing with a crude cheat sheet filled with puerile insults."
