Democrats celebrate Kristi Noem’s ouster but warn of battle to come for future of DHS – live

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Trump says there will be no deal with Iran 'except unconditional surrender'

On Truth Social, Donald Trump was resolute: “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”

He noted that after that, and the selection of “GREAT & ACCEPTABLE leader(s)”, the US “will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”

US lost 92,000 jobs ahead of war on Iran, latest report shows

Michael Sainato

The US lost 92,000 jobs in February, a major slackening in the labor market that came just before Donald Trump threw the global economy into upheaval with his conflict in Iran.

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% in February. In comparison, the US added 130,000 jobs in January, far surpassing expectations of 70,000 jobs but still 13,000 less than January 2025.

Because the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday is solely focused on jobs in February, it does not capture the global shock waves caused by the US-Israel conflict with Iran. But the new jobs data will be influential in shaping the US Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting over interest rates on 17 and 18 March.

Embattled Texas congressman ends re-election bid

Tony Gonzales, the Republican representative who admitted to having an extramarital affair with an aide who later died by suicide, announced that he would not run for re-election.

This comes after House GOP leadership urged Gonzales to abandon his campaign, amid an ethics committee probe into his conduct.

Earlier this week, Gonzales called his relationship his late staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, “a lapse in judgment”. The three-term incumbent said he had not spoken to Santos-Aviles for a year before she died. “I had absolutely nothing to do with her tragic passing,” Gonzales said, after confirming the affair.

On Tuesday, the Texas lawmaker – whose district spans from Juarez to San Antonio – failed to secure 50% of the vote in the Republican primary election.

Prior to ending his re-election bid, Gonzales was set to runoff against gun manufacturer and YouTuber, Brandon Herrera, in May.

Donald Trump is in Washington today. He has several closed-door meetings, including one with the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, at 2.30pm ET and the secretary of the interior, Doug Burgum, at 3.30pm ET.

We’ll hear from the president at 4pm ET, when he hosts a White House roundtable event on the future of college sports. We’ll be watching, particularly, for the latest lines on the US-Israel war in Iran, and any more information on Trump’s ouster of Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary.

‘You unbelievable coward’: conservative US media in open warfare over Iran

Jeremy Barr

The stars of the conservative media movement have been duking it out – in extremely personal terms – over Donald Trump’s decision to enter the United States into a conflict with Iran.

While it can be hard to cleanly group the warring factions, much of the fighting has centered on disagreements about whether the US is too deferential to Israeli interests. Those arguing that position most prominently include former Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, while conservative media personalities like Mark Levin (a current Fox News host) and Ben Shapiro have strongly supported both the American intervention in Iran and collaboration with Israel.

“There are the classic neocons, there is the populist right, and there are the anti-anti neocons,” said Curt Mills, executive director of the American Conservative magazine.

More here:

Analysis: Kristi Noem confronts grim truth that everyone is expendable in Trump world

Kristi Noem once led a dog to a gravel pit and ended its life with the cold precision of a mafia hit. On Thursday, the homeland security secretary confronted the grim truth that she, too, was expendable.

Noem became the first cabinet member fired in Donald Trump’s second term, a striking contrast to the revolving-door chaos of his first. Like other members of Team Trump, she had assumed that ostentatious displays of fealty to the president would insulate her.

As the face of immigration enforcement, often putting herself in the centre of the action, she managed to turn Trump’s signature issue into a political liability. Add a disastrous appearance before Congress this week and it was enough for the president to finally resurrect his reality TV phrase: “You’re fired!”

Who is Markwayne Mullin, Trump's 'Maga warrior' pick to replace Kristi Noem?

Joseph Gedeon

First-term Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin, 48, spent a decade in the House before winning a special election for his Oklahoma Senate seat in 2022, with Trump’s endorsement.

A member of the Cherokee nation, he studied construction technology rather than completing a four-year degree, and is widely reported to be the only sitting senator without a bachelor’s degree.

His record on immigration enforcement has aligned closely with Trump’s hardline stance. He co-sponsored the Laken Riley Act, which mandates ICE detention for undocumented immigrants charged with theft or burglary until deportation proceedings are complete. He has long defended ICE, criticized sanctuary city policies as an obstruction of federal law and consistently frames mass deportation as a legal obligation.

Throughout Trump’s second term, he has become one of the most visible Republican voices on social media and on the Sunday news shows, a reliable and combative surrogate for an administration that prizes both qualities.

More here:

Democrats celebrate Noem ouster but warn of battle to come for future of DHS

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the day.

Yesterday Donald Trump announced that he was replacing Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security – the first cabinet official of Trump’s second administration to be ousted from their role.

Democrats cheered her departure – Noem’s scandal-plagued tenure as secretary was marked by federal immigration crackdowns that created atmospheres of fear in cities around the country and resulted in immigration agents killing two US citizens – Renee Good and Alex Prett – in Minneapolis.

“Hey, Kristi Noem, don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” the Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, said on a video posted on X. “Here’s your legacy: Corruption and chaos. Parents and children teargassed. Moms and nurses – US citizens – getting shot in the face.”

But Democrats also warned the public to not forget that the issues with the DHS won’t go away with Noem – and to hold her accountable for her time as secretary.

“Of course, Kristi Noem deserved to be fired. But rather than spend energy celebrating this Trump setback, let’s recognize that the disaster of today’s DHS runs much deeper than the (former) secretary’s incompetence – and keep stepping up the political pressure,” former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg posted on X.

“Let me be clear: I’m glad Kristi Noem was fired. But we still have to abolish ICE,” the Massachusetts senator Ed Markey said.

“Firing her is not enough. Noem, Greg Bovino and Stephen Miller all must be held accountable for terrorizing and endangering the American people,” said Gavin Newsom, the California governor who has confirmed that he is considering a 2028 presidential run.

One Democratic senator, Andy Kim, has already gone on the record to say he won’t be voting to confirm Trump’s next pick to head the DHS – “Maga warrior” Markwayne Mullin, who serves in the Senate alongside Kim.

In other developments:

The US House of Representatives on Thursday voted down a Democratic-backed measure to halt hostilities with Iran, as Republicans cleared the way for Trump to continue the conflict that has drawn in countries across the Middle East.

Trump is scheduled to meet with his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, today as the conflict continues to rage in the Middle East. The president is also scheduled to meet with the interior secretary, Doug Burgum, following Burgum’s visit to Venezuela earlier this week. Both meetings are closed to the press.

Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right Reform UK party, is scheduled to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago for dinner to discuss the Chagos Island deal. Trump changed his mind on supporting the Chagos Island deal because the UK will not permit its airbases to be used for a pre-emptive US strike on Iran. In his latest change of heart on the deal, the Trump posted on social media that Keir Starmer was “making a big mistake” by handing sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius in exchange for continued use by the UK and US of their airbase on one of the islands, Diego Garcia.

The US supreme court is scheduled to hold conference today to consider cases for the upcoming term – which includes Trump’s petition to review the verdict in the E Jean Carroll case that found Trump liable for sexual abuse.

A January 6 US Capitol rioter who was pardoned by Trump was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for molesting two children. Federal prosecutors said Andrew Paul Johnson, 45, had entered the Capitol building through an office window that other rioters had smashed and cursed at police officers after they used teargas to disperse the mob of Trump supporters.