Tamara Keith

Tamara Keith, NPR News.

Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast.

I'm Tamara Keith.

I cover the White House.

I'm Ximena Bustillo and I cover immigration.

And today on the show, an Epstein Files update.

But first, a shakeup.

President Trump has fired his Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem.

Ximena, she had been plagued by scandal and controversy for months.

So why now?

Right.

Secretary Noem, or soon to be former Secretary Noem, has had one PR challenge after another, particularly to kick off the year.

Kristi Noem testified twice this week before Congress, once for House judiciary, a second time for Senate judiciary.

And, you know, we knew she was going to face a lot of tough questions, obviously from Democrats, but she

She also faced a lot of tough questions from some Republicans, notably in the Senate, that raised questions about how she has handled disaster relief in their states or how she has spent money for her agency.

There was one key exchange with Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, who is a solid Trump ally.

And he pressed her on expensive ad campaigns that she ran last year that really profiled her and centered around immigration, calling on people to self-deport or come here, quote, the right way.

Yeah, effective in your name recognition is quite the cutting comment.

These ads featured her on horseback and very glammed up, and certainly they did get her name and face out there.

Now, one thing that I'll note is everything Nome said is not necessarily new.