Kristi Noem is no longer serving as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas, the State Department announced this week.
The former homeland security secretary was appointed to the position in March after a brief tenure at the department, which was marred in controversy.
“Kristi Noem’s envoy status expired last month and she is no longer in the role,” a State Department spokesperson told The Washington Sun. “She is now a senior advisor to Deputy Secretary Landau and continues to work on the Shield of the Americas portfolio.”
Noem separately confirmed she no longer holds the position in a news release.
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“The Special Envoy to the Shield of the Americas role was always a six-month appointment,” Noem said. “Secretary Noem remains at the State Department as a Senior Advisor.”
The Trump administration launched the coalition in March. It’s tasked with advancing strategies that stop foreign interference in the Western Hemisphere.
The coalition is composed of the U.S., Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.
Noem concluded her role at DHS earlier this year and began her new post by traveling to Costa Rica to sign a cooperation agreement facilitating the transfer of third-country nationals ordered removed from the U.S., according to a news release.
Noem also traveled to Guyana and the Dominican Republic as part of her special envoy role.
The former secretary’s time at Homeland Security was fraught with controversy.
She’d been accused of using $200 million in taxpayer dollars for an ad campaign featuring herself on horseback in front of Mount Rushmore.
She’d also been scrutinized over her handling of the department after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
Corey Lewandowski, who had an unpaid role as the department’s “special government employee” and was her right-hand man, was also accused of attempting to profit from government contracts.
Lewandowski has denied the allegations.
Noem was fired the day after she appeared before the House Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing. While being questioned, she referred to Good and Pretti as “domestic terrorists” and declined to apologize to their families.
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