What a fall from grace for former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Not only did President Donald Trump embarrassingly ax her on social media while she was in the middle of a speech three weeks ago, but the South Dakota Republican just found out who she’ll report to in her new role with the State Department, and it’s not the top dog. According to CBS reporter Olivia Gazis, Noem in her job as “Special Envoy to the Shield of the Americas,” what critics have called a made-up job, isn’t even reporting to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Instead Gazis says Noem’s new boss is Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau. U.S. President Donald Trump talks to journalists after signing executive orders in the Oval Office with (L-R) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Marshal Service Director Gadyaces Serralta at the White House on August 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) During congressional testimony earlier this month, Noem told lawmakers that Trump had approved the costliest government advertising campaign in the past decade except for COVID-19 and military recruitment, which Trump quickly denied before publicly firing her on social media. The $220 million ad at the center of all the mayhem stars Noem riding a horse dressed up like a cowgirl in full makeup in front of Mt. Rushmore, and what’s fueling even more criticism is the fact she gave herself a $60,000 signing bonus to boot, lawmakers said Monday, March 23, according to The Hill. The staging alone of Noem for the campaign, which tried to convince undocumented migrants to self-deport, cost taxpayers thousands of dollars for hair, makeup and horse rentals. The former South Dakota governor is the first Cabinet-level official of Trump’s second term to get the boot, but when it happened she played it down to try to save face, gushing over the new position and kissing up to Trump like a true professional. BREAKING: Grilled by Sen. Kennedy, Kristi Noem throws Trump under the bus, saying he approved the wasteful spending of $220 million on ads featuring her.pic.twitter.com/7gwOFb3iAu— Really American (@ReallyAmerican1) March 3, 2026 “Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” she wrote on X on March 5, the very day she was fired, but she wasn’t done apparently thinking she’d still be working with top Trumpers. “@SecRubio and @SecWar are incredible leaders and I look forward to working with them closely to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren,” the contrite Noem said, trying to sound like she’d just received a promotion. Hours later Rubio jumped on X with what appeared to be a congratulatory message, positioning her new role as a natural next step. Instead, it read more like a reminder of how far she had just fallen — no longer a peer, but someone now being folded into his orbit. “I look forward to working with Kristi Noem as Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas — our new security initiative comprised of 13 countries,” Rubio wrote in a brief, two-sentence post. “Kristi has achieved incredible results as Secretary of Homeland Security and will be a tremendous asset in our effort to promote security and prosperity in the Western Hemisphere,” he added. But reality is setting in and Noem is learning she’s been relegated essentially to an entry-level role with no teeth and certainly no authority that saves her from dragging herself back to South Dakota with her tail between her legs. This is quite humiliating, even for her. Early retirement from politics and public life would be a mercy for @KristiNoem.— Oscar Chimaobi (@oscarchim) March 25, 2026 Social media rose to the occasion piling on Noem when she’s at her lowest and showing no mercy, very similarly to how she behaved in calling two Americans gunned down by her ICE Border Patrol agents in a Minneapolis immigration crackdown in January “domestic terrorists,” which they were not. “This is quite humiliating, even for her. Early retirement from politics and public life would be a mercy for @KristiNoem,” X user Oscar Chimaobi noted. This X user pointed out the obvious about the Shield of the Americas. “My gawd that’s a ridiculous name for a government organization. Did they create that just so he could put his losers in it to keep their mouth shut and on the tax payer dime?” Another made a similar remark, “So she’s been downgraded to an Assistant Secretary level, But she is so hopeless that she is taking this and staying on. Humiliating … but it didn’t even work for her. After firing Noem and throwing her a bone with the Shield of the Americas gig, Trump convened a summit at his golf club in Doral, Florida, to kick off his new initiative, basically a military coalition formed this month to fight drug cartels, illegal immigration and transnational crime through regional military coordination and intelligence sharing, according to news outlets. Politico correspondent Felicia Schwartz had one word for Noem’s spectacular fall from grace: “Oof.” ‘This Is Humiliating’: Marco Rubio Tries to Save Kristi Noem — Then Reports Expose Who She’s Really Reporting To in Trump’s Made-Up Role and She’s Right Back to Being a Punchline ...read more read less