In the end, Kristi Noem's ouster proved why the Trump administration has refused congressional accountability.
The Homeland Security secretary had become the subject of Democratic outrage due to the draconian immigration policies.
Her description of Alex Pretti and Renee Good as domestic terrorists caused Republicans like Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski to call for her resignation.
But Noem has largely rebuffed the Senate Judiciary Committee or any type of congressional oversight, which had begun to rankle Republicans like Tillis.
So when Congress finally had a chance to grill her, they took it. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Tillis, an avid animal lover who just last week led a Mardi Gras dog parade, grilled Noem about her shooting and killing her late dog Cricket.
She completely collapsed when Sen. John Kennedy, the Republican from Louisiana, asked her why the Department of Homeland Security paid $200 million for an ad campaign featuring her telling undocumented immigrants to self-deport. When Noem said they were "effective," he hit back by saying, "They were effective in your name recognition."
She faced additional humiliation on the House side on Wednesday, when she refused to back down from calling Good and Pretti domestic terrorists. She then faced questions about whether she had engaged in an extramarital affair with her top aide and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Noem vehemently denied the allegations, which have long run throughout the D.C. rumor mill. But her carefully cultivated image as the face and muscle behind Trump's mass deportation policy completely fell apart.
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Trump's nominee to replace her, will likely sail through confirmation thanks to senatorial courtesy, as was the case with former Florida senator-turned-Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
But it shows what happens when Congress, particularly the Republican majority, actually does its job.
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