Bernd Debsmann Jr.
Report from the White House

Today’s announcement comes as no surprise to those who follow the ins and outs of Washington politics, albeit sooner than some expected.

Just last night, I spoke to a source close to the Trump campaign who said he believed Mr. Noem’s replacement was “likely” but added that Mr. Trump would likely wait a while to avoid appearing to be responding to media pressure.

The president has reportedly already called Republican lawmakers to assess their response and possible replacement.

Noem has been under intense scrutiny for months, particularly over her handling of the vast department and the aftermath of the deaths of two Americans at the hands of federal agents in Minnesota earlier this year.

But the clincher appears to have been a heated hearing on Capitol Hill this week in which she claimed President Trump had approved a multimillion-dollar ad campaign featuring her.

President Trump said in an interview with Reuters today that that’s not true.

“I didn’t know anything about it,” he said.