Kristi Noem's DHS Replacement Has An Embarrassing Scandal That's A Little Too On The Nose

Donald Trump has officially kicked Kristi Noem to the curb, and the new secretary of Homeland Security has already been chosen. Few folks will likely be sorry to see Noem gone from this role. Unsurprisingly, however, the man filling her shoes doesn't have a squeaky clean past, either. And now that he's taking over an important role, folks are getting nosey about the skeletons in his closet. What's one thing giving people pause? It seems that Trump's pick for Homeland Security secretary is a nose-picker. (We really, really wish we were kidding.)

As the old saying goes, "You can pick your friends; you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." For most of us, you can't pick your secretary of Homeland Security, either. But Donald Trump can. And he apparently picked a guy who believes that you can, in fact, pick your colleague's nose if it strikes your fancy. 

"I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security..." Trump wrote on Truth Social on March 5. Mullin was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives before becoming a senator in 2023. Back in 2015, however, Mullin found himself in the midst of a scandal. While on a work trip, he photographed himself sticking his finger up the noses of his colleagues while they were asleep. And they apparently weren't too happy about it.

Sticking your finger up sleeping peoples' noses is unarguably weird. Yet Markwayne Mullin actually did this to his colleagues and their spouses — some of whom were appalled by the behavior. In 2023, Kathleen Trott, wife of former Republican Rep. David Trott, recounted Mullin's nose-picking to Politico. In 2015, members of Congress embarked on a trip to Israel. They arrived after a long, delay-riddled day of travel, and the congresspeople and their partners hopped on a bus. "...It's a couple-hour bus ride and people were... leaning on their spouse's shoulder and falling asleep," she explained. According to her, "...this idiot starts walking up and down the bus with his camera and anyone who fell asleep, he would put his finger in their nose and take a picture."

Kathleen recalled, "I said to Dave: 'This is a U.S. congressman?'" Well, now he's no longer a congressman; he's the secretary of Homeland Security. And as odd as that may seem, it's not out of character for Donald Trump to pick someone prone to this kind of behavior for an important role. Kathleen remembered thinking, "[If] that idiot comes near me when I fall asleep, I'm going to punch him," and she wasn't alone. "Some people were mad ... Just didn't seem appropriate," she explained. So, if anyone hoped that the new Homeland Security secretary might be a bit more fit for the job than the last, we're seemingly out of luck.