John Kennedy walked into that Senate hearing room with one question prepared.
Kristi Noem answered it – and Trump was furious before dinner.
Nobody expected the call that ended her career to come from inside the Republican caucus.
How John Kennedy Cornered Noem in Her Senate Testimony
John Kennedy didn't ambush her. He telegraphed it.
Before Kristi Noem sat down at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Kennedy had already called the White House to warn them he was going to have something to say about a $220 million DHS ad contract – one that featured Noem prominently, bypassed competitive bidding, and went to a firm whose CEO is married to Noem's former DHS spokeswoman.
The White House didn't try to talk him out of it.
Kennedy pressed her under oath: did Trump personally approve spending $220 million on TV ads starring Kristi Noem?
She said yes.
Kennedy knew that wasn't true. Trump knew it too.
Within hours of the hearing, Trump was on the phone with him – and Kennedy told reporters the president was "mad as a murder hornet."
"His recollection and her recollection are decidedly different," Kennedy said.
Trump told Reuters directly: "I never knew anything about it."
Noem lied about it under oath to Congress.
The DHS No-Bid Contract That Got Kristi Noem Fired
The ad deal wasn't just an embarrassment – it was a procurement disaster with Noem's fingerprints all over it.
DHS invoked a national emergency to skip competitive bidding entirely, then awarded the contract to Safe America Media – a company incorporated just 11 days before it was selected.
Safe America subcontracted most of the work to The Strategy Group, a firm whose CEO is married to Noem's former spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin – and which had previously worked on Noem's 2022 gubernatorial campaign in South Dakota.
Kennedy laid it out at the hearing: "Safe America Media was a company formed 11 days before you picked them. And the Strategy Group got most of the money. And the head of that is married to your former spokesperson."
He added that a fifth to a quarter billion dollars in taxpayer money was hard to defend "when we're scratching for every penny."
Noem insisted she had nothing to do with contractor selection and that career officials handled the bidding.
The Daily Wire obtained procurement records showing the contract was awarded using "other than full and open competition," with the field limited to four hand-picked companies from the start.
Trump's Immigration Agenda Deserved Better Than This
Trump's immigration agenda works. Border crossings collapsed. ICE agents who spent years handcuffed by the Biden administration finally got to do their jobs.
Noem wanted to make herself the face of that success.
She spent $220 million of the money Congress appropriated for enforcement – money Republican senators are fighting to defend against Democratic attacks – running horseback ads at Mount Rushmore with her name on them.
Kennedy nailed it when he told her the ads "were effective in your name recognition."
That's the problem. Trump's agenda should sell itself. Noem was selling Noem.
When a senator asked her the one question she should have been ready for – did the president sign off on this? – she said yes under oath. Trump contradicted her the same afternoon.
Trump fired her Thursday on Truth Social and named Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin as her replacement effective March 31.
Noem gets a soft landing – a new title as Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.
She lied to Congress about the president. Trump found out before she left the building.
That's what the new title doesn't say.
Sources:
- Bill Melugin, Jacqui Heinrich, Peter Doocy, "Everything we know on what led up to Noem's dismissal," Fox News, March 5, 2026.
- John Kennedy, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing transcript, March 4, 2026.
- Hanna Trudo, "Docs Show DHS Specifically Steered $200M Ad Contracts, Raising Questions About Noem's Testimony," The Daily Wire, March 5, 2026.
- Joseph Simonson, "Kristi Noem faces heat from Republican Senator John Kennedy over $220M ad," The Hill, March 4, 2026.
- "Trump fires Kristi Noem as DHS chief, names Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her," Fox News, March 5, 2026.