Not long after President Donald Trump announced he had fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday, Minnesota Democrats rushed to celebrate the news while calling for additional reforms and accountability.

“Kristi Noem has done a stunning amount of damage, and it’s good she’s gone,” Gov. Tim Walz posted to social media. “But this doesn’t change the fact that we need a complete overhaul of DHS, impartial investigations into the killings of two American citizens and information on children that were taken from Minnesota.”

While not as visible during Operation Metro Surge as Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino, Noem was still the face of the operation for many.

Noem has faced constant criticism from Democrats and Minnesota residents angered by her handling of Operation Metro Surge, which brought 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota at its peak. The criticism includes concerns over due process, law enforcement brutality, racial profiling and retaliation on a mass scale.

Noem faced intense scrutiny from Democrats and some Republicans during two days of testimony on Capitol Hill earlier this week. She stood by her description of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, as “domestic terrorists.”

“I certainly offer my condolences to these families and for their loss and it was a tragic situation that we saw in Minneapolis,” Noem said when pressed, and later added: “I will continue every day to get up and to work hard to give everybody factual information.”

By Thursday afternoon, Trump announced Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin would be replacing Noem, the former South Dakota governor.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who represents Minneapolis, said she believed Noem’s ouster was partially due to the events in Minneapolis, along with her being “incredibly unqualified to be in the position.”

“I really hope that every single senator that is a Democrat does not confirm a DHS secretary until the actual reforms are put in place,” she said.

During her tenure overseeing DHS, Noem made three visits to Minnesota. Before Operation Metro Surge, she made public appearances in October and November 2025 to tout immigration enforcement and to thank airport security workers who were working without pay during a government shutdown.

Noem visited the state again Jan. 6, just as the Trump administration announced additional agents would be sent to the state. She returned the next day for a news conference following Good’s death.

Among Democrats posting early reactions, there was no hiding distaste for Noem.

“Good riddance,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement. Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy accused her of “cruelty and corruption.” U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum called Noem “the most inept, incompetent, and dishonorable leader” in DHS history.

Many Democratic leaders in the state held Noem responsible for the deaths of Good and Pretti, two U.S. citizens and Minneapolis residents. They said her firing was only the start of accountability.

“Firing Kristi Noem will not bring back Alex Pretti. It will not bring back Renee Good,” Sen. Tina Smith said in a statement. “It will not make Minnesota whole again after the horror and devastation wrought upon us by Operation Metro Surge. Until Congress passes meaningful restraints to rein in ICE’s terror, nothing will substantively change.”

The state’s four Republican members of Congress had not shared any reaction to Noem’s firing by Thursday afternoon.

While celebrating her ouster and calling for greater accountability for the DHS, Minnesota Democrats also offered pointed barbs for Noem, reflecting the broader era of incivility in the nation’s politics.

Smith posted a video of a tornado siren blaring with the message: “Moment of silence for Kristi Noem’s career.”

Walz posted a photo of his dog with an old tweet of his referencing Noem admitting to shooting and killing her dog years ago.

_____

©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC