Kristi Noem’s own department is turning on her, and the incident that started it all reveals exactly where her priorities lie

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s relationship with U.S. Coast Guard officials has become seriously strained during her first year in charge, according to several U.S. officials and people within the Coast Guard. The tensions stem from her early decisions and a clear shift in the branch’s traditional priorities.

According to NBC News, the trouble began after a serious incident last year. A 23-year-old Coast Guardsman fell overboard from a cutter into the Pacific Ocean, shortly after Noem was confirmed. The Coast Guard sent ships and aircraft, including a C-130, to search for him.

Noem learned that the C-130 was also scheduled for an immigrant deportation flight from California to Texas. She verbally told acting commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday to pull the plane from the search-and-rescue mission so it wouldn’t miss the deportation. The regional command in San Diego found alternative aircraft, allowing the C-130 to return after about an hour, but the guardsman was never found after 190 hours of searching.

Noem’s leadership has quietly but clearly reshuffled the Coast Guard’s core mission priorities

New guidance to locations like Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento now designates transporting detained immigrants as the first priority. As we’ve previously reported, Noem’s Coast Guard directives have sparked serious internal strain, pushing search-and-rescue, counternarcotics, and Coast Guard training below immigrant transport.

This focus on President Trump’s mass deportation policy has led to a tenfold increase in the use of Coast Guard aircraft for deportations, according to data from ICE Flight Monitor. One Coast Guard official said, “It puts so much stress on the wing.” The atmosphere at headquarters is reportedly “terrible,” with a general feeling of “keep your head down, you don’t want to be on the firing line.”

There have also been contentious moments involving Noem’s top adviser, Corey Lewandowski. Last May, he reportedly berated Coast Guard flight staff and threatened to fire them because the plane took off without one of Noem’s personal items, a heated blanket. 

When the pilot refused his demand to turn around, Lewandowski allegedly announced the pilot was relieved of duty. The pilot explained that if fired, the plane would need to land immediately, and cooler heads eventually prevailed.

Noem’s spending decisions have also drawn criticism. She approved the purchase of two new Gulfstream jets for $170 million, which many Coast Guard and DHS officials saw as unnecessary, arguing those funds could have gone toward mission-critical aircraft like C-130s. Democrats in Congress said her “first priority is your own comfort” rather than strengthening the Coast Guard’s capabilities.

President Trump has continued to support Noem, saying she is doing “a very good job” at the border. With scrutiny mounting, Noem has agreed to face the Senate amid questions about her leadership. The Department of Homeland Security denied the claims, calling the reports a “politicized deep state effort to undermine President Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.”