CSPAN - Washington Journal Open Phones Aired: 2026-03-06 Duration: 12:50 === New Leadership for Homeland Security (03:21) === [00:00:00] And the spirit that make up America. [00:00:02] Join us for remarkable coast-to-coast coverage, celebrating our nation's journey like no other network can, and proudly supported by our television partners. [00:00:12] America 250, over a year of historic moments. [00:00:16] C-SPAN, official media partner of America 250. [00:00:22] We bring you into the chamber, onto the Senate floor, inside the hearing room, up to the mic, and to the desk in the Oval Office. [00:00:31] C-SPAN takes you where decisions are made. [00:00:34] No spin, no commentary, no agenda. [00:00:38] C-SPAN is your unfiltered connection to American democracy. [00:00:41] Advance the mission. [00:00:43] Donate today at c-SPAN.org forward slash donate. [00:00:47] Together, we keep democracy in view. [00:01:16] In just a minute. [00:01:18] Start dialing in now. [00:01:19] Here's what the president had to say on Truth Social. [00:01:23] Before he posted this, he let the outgoing Homeland Security Secretary know about his decision. [00:01:31] I am pleased to announce that the highly respected United States Senator from the great state of Oklahoma, Mark Wayne Mullen, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security effective March 31st, 2026. [00:01:43] The current Secretary, Christy Noam, who has served us well and has had numerous and spectacular results, especially on the border, will be moving to be special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, our new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. [00:02:01] I thank Christy for her service at Homeland. [00:02:05] This is what the President had to post on Truth Social. [00:02:08] Christy Noam responded on X saying, thank you, Mr. President, for appointing me as the special envoy for the Shield of Americas. [00:02:17] Secretary Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 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. [00:02:30] The Western Hemisphere is absolutely critical for U.S. security. [00:02:34] In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security. [00:02:45] Your thoughts on the firing of Christy Noam as Homeland Security Secretary in our first hour of today's Washington Journal. [00:02:54] According to several news outlets today, that the president made his decision after her testimony on Capitol Hill this week. [00:03:03] The New York Times says that he was shown news clips of her answering before a Senate panel this week and saying that he knew about a campaign ad that will cost $220 million that featured her prominently in the ads. === Firing Christy Noam (09:28) === [00:03:22] That's according to the New York Times. [00:03:24] The Washington Post reported this morning, Mr. Trump told advisors that he had grown increasingly unhappy with Noam after DHS's surge of thousands of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota in December and January, an escalation that resulted in officers fatally shooting two U.S. citizens, said two people who spoke to reporters The Washington Post describing the president's conversations. [00:03:50] Noam's testimony at a Senate committee oversight hearing this week also rankled the president, who is displeased, the Washington Post reports, with her defense of a 200 million ad campaign that featured Noam and her assertion that the president signed off on the campaign. [00:04:05] The Wall Street Journal first reported Trump's frustrations with Noam. [00:04:10] It was this exchange with Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, and the Homeland Security Secretary that rankled the president. [00:04:20] How do you square that concern for waste, which I share, with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently? [00:04:43] Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from, with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, that they needed to leave or we would detain them and remove them and they'd not get the chance to come back to America the right way. [00:05:03] That has been extremely effective. [00:05:05] Ask you to run these advertisements, is that right? [00:05:09] We had that conversation, yes, before I was put in this position and sworn in and confirmed and since then as well. [00:05:17] Okay. [00:05:19] Did you bid out those service contracts? [00:05:23] Yes, they did. [00:05:23] They went out to a competitive bid and career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials. [00:05:31] And the people that you ended up picking were people who had formerly done your political work back in South Dakota. [00:05:43] Is that right? [00:05:44] No, that's not correct, sir. [00:05:46] No, it's not, sir. [00:05:48] The individuals who, I believe, the careers who they chose were two different media firms. [00:05:55] There's been conversation about their subcontractors, but we have no legal authority to look into subcontractors on work like that. [00:06:02] Okay. [00:06:04] And you're saying that you're testifying that President Trump approved this ahead of time. [00:06:10] Is that my understanding? [00:06:12] We had conversations about making sure that we were telling people. [00:06:17] I'm asking you, sorry to interrupt, but the president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently. [00:06:31] Yes, sir. [00:06:31] We went through the legal processes, did it correctly? [00:06:34] He worked with OMB. [00:06:35] Yes. [00:06:36] He did. [00:06:37] Yes. [00:06:39] Tuesday's testimony on Capitol Hill by outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam. [00:06:44] That exchange frustrated the president according to news reports. [00:06:49] Here's the Washington Post. [00:06:50] Senator Kennedy said Thursday that he had spoken with the president Tuesday night after that testimony and described Trump's recollection about the ads as distinctly different than what Noam had recounted. [00:07:04] The president was not happy, and I remember thinking that the secretary is pretty much dead as fried chicken, Kennedy told reporters after Trump's announcement. [00:07:15] Take a look at the ads that Mr. Kennedy, the senator, was asking Christy Noam about in that testimony. [00:07:26] Why do I love these wide open spaces? [00:07:28] They remind me of why our forefathers came here, not just for its beauty, but for the freedom only America provides. [00:07:35] I'm Christy Noam. [00:07:37] From the cowboys who tamed the West to the Titans who built our cities, to the dreamers who chased the impossible, America has always rewarded vision and grit. [00:07:48] Our greatness calls people to us for a chance to prosper, to live how they choose, to become part of something special. [00:07:57] Anyone who searches for freedom can always find a home here. [00:08:00] But that freedom's a precious thing, and we defend it vigorously. [00:08:05] You cross the border illegally, we'll find you. [00:08:08] Break our laws, we'll punish you. [00:08:10] Harm American citizens, there will be consequences. [00:08:14] But if you come here the right way, your American dream can be as big as these endless guys. [00:08:20] From President Trump and me, welcome home. [00:08:24] Christy Noam, in an ad that costs ads like that, that cost $220 million to promote the senator said in the president herself. [00:08:36] Christy Noam asked about those ads at that hearing this week. [00:08:40] Of course, C-SPAN cameras were there and we covered the hearing in its entirety. [00:08:44] So, if you missed it, you can watch more exchanges if you go to our website, c-span.org. [00:08:49] More reporting on the president's decision from the Wall Street Journal this morning. [00:08:54] For at least a week, they report President Trump told White House advisors that he was tired of the infighting and drama at the Department of Homeland Security and that he was planning to soon oust its leader. [00:09:05] But after Secretary Noam's congressional testimony Tuesday, Trump sped up his timeline, according to people familiar with his thinking. [00:09:11] He was livid that she said under oath that he had signed off on spending $220 million in ads that promote herself. [00:09:18] That evening, Noam's top advisor, Corey Lewandowski, tried to calm the president down in a White House meeting, the people said. [00:09:24] But the last-ditch effort to save Noam's job failed. [00:09:27] The meeting was short, with Trump expressing his displeasure and ending the discussion quickly. [00:09:32] Trump told advisors that same night that his decision was made. [00:09:36] She needed to go, he said, and he began polling senators and aides about Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen as a replacement. [00:09:44] And the president said yesterday in that Truth Social Post that he has nominated Mark Wayne Mullen, the senator from Oklahoma, to take over, and he would like him confirmed by the end of this month. [00:09:57] Let's go to Andrew, who's in Sterling, Virginia Democratic Caller. [00:10:01] You're up first, your reaction to the president's decision. [00:10:06] Well, good morning, C-SPAN. [00:10:07] I think it's about time. [00:10:10] Kristen Noam was basically the poster child for the stupidity, the incompetence, the cruelty, the total corruption of this Trump administration, where everybody in that cabinet is in it for the big rift. [00:10:25] They're taking after their dear leader, Donald Trump, and trying to basically get as much money out of our tax money to enrich themselves and their friends. [00:10:39] She was fired not because her ice caused the deaths of two American citizens. [00:10:46] She was not fired because of the cruelty towards immigrants living peacefully in this country. [00:10:52] She was fired because she exposed the corruption, the waste, the fraud, and abuse that happens under this president. [00:11:00] She should have been fired a long time ago. [00:11:02] She obviously perjured herself at that congressional hearing the other day. [00:11:07] Will she face the consequences? [00:11:08] I doubt it. [00:11:09] Because the only people in position to have her put under trial is the Justice Department under Pam Bondi, and that's not going to happen. [00:11:21] She is everything that's wrong with this government. [00:11:25] They continue to abuse the American public. [00:11:29] They continue to take advantage of people's taxes in this country. [00:11:35] And under Trump, this country is going down fast. [00:11:39] All right. [00:11:39] Andrew's thoughts there in Virginia. [00:11:41] Democratic caller. [00:11:42] Michelle is a Republican in Michigan. [00:11:44] Let's hear from you. [00:11:46] Yes, this morning I'm just calling to say that your opening monologue is incorrect. [00:11:52] Christy Noam was not fired, and you have misled all of everyone that's listening this morning. [00:12:00] She was not fired. [00:12:02] She was replaced. [00:12:03] And she's being put into a different department. [00:12:08] Where I work, being fired and placed in a different department, there's a huge difference there. [00:12:15] So no, the media sector keeps saying that she was fired. [00:12:20] She was not fired. [00:12:22] And I would like to redact what you had said. [00:12:25] She was not fired. [00:12:27] She was replaced. [00:12:28] And as far as the last man that had just got on the phone, her position would not have been needed if her position was needed because of the last minute. [00:12:41] We're going to leave this for a discussion on U.S.-China relations with former U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns. [00:12:47] You're watching live coverage here on C-SPAN.