(FOX40.COM) — On Thursday, political officials in Northern California shared their reactions to a major announcement from the Trump administration. The president removed U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from her role.
This comes on the heels of a heated congressional hearing. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers questioned Noem regarding a series of steps she’s taken during her year serving in her position.
While some have described this move as a step in the right direction and a step toward “accountability,” others explained why they believe a dismissal like this is not unusual nor a victory for any party.
“She’s not fired. She’s being reassigned,” Tab Berg, President of Tab Communications, a Republican consulting firm, said. “Administrations face changes all the time. If they’re not achieving the mission, if they’re not meeting the goals and they’re not meeting the expectations of the president, they serve at the will of the president, so I don’t think this is anything to be looked at in a super negative way.”
On the other side of the coin, Josh Harder, a Democratic lawmaker serving California’s 9th District, also weighed in on Noem’s ousting.
“She clearly got fired,” Harder said. “The Trump administration had to make up a new position to give to her and I think the only reason they even did that is because she was — they were — afraid of what she would say if she wasn’t collecting a taxpayer paycheck.”
Noem has since been appointed “special envoy” for a new security initiative under the Trump administration.
“I think this is long overdue accountability,” Harder said. “Under Noem, our neighbors have been unlawfully detained, demonstrators have been brutally attacked, and even killed and the rights of American citizens have been trampled underfoot by a Department of Homeland Security that isn’t securing anything.”
Noem, serving in the role for around a year, has faced growing controversy across party lines. Her removal came shortly after a fiery congressional hearing during which lawmakers grilled the former governor of South Dakota over a series of topics including her behavior in the aftermath of two separate incidents in Minnesota where federal officers fatally shot two civilians.
“What ICE has been doing, not just in Minneapolis, but even across the Central Valley in Stockton and San Joaquin County, is outrageous and folks are scared,” Harder said. “But we’re not going to let that fear divide us.”
Noem’s expenditure on a $220 million ad campaign also raised red flags among many political leaders.
Berg said he believes Noem’s removal was somewhat inevitable. He cited her “struggling” relationship with the president.
“I don’t think we should ever have any no-bid contracts in government, ever,” Berg said. “It should always go out to a competitive bid and I think Trump, being a business person, also probably had some problems with that. But I think the bigger part of his concern was that she sort of threw him under the bus, saying that he approved it when indeed he hadn’t.”
Berg said he is on board with Trump’s decision to replace Noem with Senator Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma.
“He’s clearly an effective manager and he knows how to run an operation just based on his business experience,” Mullin said. “I think that’s going to serve him extraordinarily well. He’s clear and direct and he’s a take-no-guff person. I mean he doesn’t try to be clever. He’s very straightforward and forthright. I think he’ll be a fantastic secretary.”
Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Josh Harder reiterated that he thinks change needs to extend beyond titles. He said the U.S. needs policy change, not just personnel change.
“As long as folks are doing warrantless operations, as long as they don’t have use of force guidelines, it doesn’t matter who’s in charge,” Harder said. “Hopefully, this is a sign the administration is seeing that they need to, to take a fork in the road.”
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