Composite 2.71 / 10, weighted per the Constitutional Weight Schedule.
Below the 700 bar, Author's Verdict: not supported.
Well below the bar, and capped independent of the number. The conduct record as Secretary converges across stewardship, honesty, fiduciary duty, and rule-of-law fidelity: GAO findings of FEMA legal violations, the no-bid self-promoting ad contracts, the $80,000 disclosure omission, false statements under oath, and removal as the first Cabinet casualty of the administration. A capping institutional-norm flag (defiance of appropriations authority and court orders) forecloses support on its own. Policy is not what sinks this, the conduct is.
Institutional-norm / process subversion by an executive, on documented official findings. A GAO report found FEMA under her DHS violated federal law six times by withholding or delaying congressionally appropriated lifesaving funds, defiance of Congress power of the purse (an impoundment-class breach). Separately, federal judges found DHS under her defied binding court orders limiting certain CECOT deportations, defiance of the judicial check. Each is a documented breach of a constitutional limit on the office, by official finding rather than allegation. CAPPING, not terminal: no force-against-persons to seize or hold power, so the number still computes, but a documented, official-finding pattern of defying both Congress appropriations authority and binding court orders forecloses an Author Verdict of supported, independent of the composite. Applied on the same evidentiary bar the board uses for process-subversion conduct on every side.
Evidence: GAO report via Stanton/Pallone release, FEMA violated federal law six times withholding congressionally appropriated funds · ABC News, federal court findings that DHS violated orders barring certain CECOT deportations (ouster recap)
A capping flag forecloses an Author's Verdict of "supported" regardless of the composite; a terminal flag suspends the number entirely. Conduct is weighed on documented evidence, applied symmetrically. How flags work →
No military service of record. Pre-office background as a rancher, farmer, and small-business owner in Hamlin County, South Dakota. Listed for completeness; nothing in this field is scored.
The 14 measures
Each measure is scored 0–10 against an anchored example, with a cited source. Hover/expand why? for the reasoning.
| # | Measure | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| M01 | Duty to Constitution & Rule of Law | 3 | why?Constitutional fidelity, graded on conduct not immigration policy. Two documented breaches as Secretary: (1) federal judges found DHS under her violated binding court orders barring certain CECOT (El Salvador) deportations, defiance of a judicial check, not a contested-but-lawful reading; (2) in May 20 2025 Senate testimony she defined habeas corpus as a presidential power to remove people from the country, the inverse of the writ (a detainee right to challenge unlawful detention) and could not locate it in the Constitution. Misunderstanding and, in the CECOT matter, defying the rule-of-law limits on the office is a fidelity breach. Held at 3 rather than the floor because the defiance was litigated openly, not a force-backed nullification. [source] |
| M02 | Party Over Country | 3 | why?Cooperation-across-institutions axis (conduct, not party). Reporting from administration officials describes constant feuding with the heads of CBP and ICE, conflict with Republican senators, and friction with the DHS Inspector General, an institutional posture of conflict rather than coalition-building inside her own government. Below middle; this grades the documented working conduct, not her policy aims. [source] |
| M03 | Persons of Equal Worth | 3 | why?Persons of Equal Worth, regard for persons, including those in custody and those with no power to resist. The March 2025 CECOT video staged shirtless, tattooed detainees (at least one reportedly wrongfully held) as a backdrop for a deportation-warning message, persons used as props. After two U.S. citizens were killed during the Minneapolis enforcement surge she directed, she characterized the deaths as domestic terrorism and declined to apologize. This grades the instrumental treatment of persons as conduct, not the underlying enforcement policy. Below middle. [source] |
| M04 | Weaponization of Justice | 2 | why?Abuse of institutional power. Three converging records: (1) a GAO report (Sep 15 2025) found FEMA under her DHS violated federal law six times by withholding or delaying congressionally appropriated lifesaving funds, defiance of Congress power of the purse; (2) DHS awarded up to ~$220M in sole-source advertising contracts, with the work flowing to a firm whose CEO is married to her own DHS chief spokesperson, the machinery of the department turned to a self-promoting end with an apparent conflict; (3) the DHS Inspector General opened a probe (Apr 2026) into contracts she handled and aide Corey Lewandowski role. Near the floor for documented abuse of the office machinery at scale; the capping institutional-norm flag carries the constitutional-scale finding. [source] |
| M05 | Incitement / Anti-Belonging | 4 | why?Incite-or-threaten axis. Combative, threat-inflected public messaging (the CECOT warning video; labeling U.S.-citizen deaths domestic terrorism), but no documented incitement or true threat against identifiable private persons rising to a scoreable instance. Hard rhetoric in service of a policy brand is not scored; the citizen-death labeling is weighed as a dignity matter under M03. Below-middle, held off the floor. [source] |
| M06 | Fiduciary Conduct | 2 | why?Fiduciary stewardship, the active duty to over-disclose and avoid conflicts before being asked. She omitted an $80,000 dark-money payment (American Resolve Policy Fund, routed through her LLC Ashwood Strategies) from the sworn federal financial-disclosure filed for her DHS confirmation, which ethics experts called a likely violation. Layered atop the no-bid ad contract flowing to her spokesperson spouse firm and reporting that aide Lewandowski used creative timekeeping and avoided government email to dodge records, the fiduciary record is adverse. Near the floor; held at 2 because key questions remain reported rather than adjudicated. [source] |
| M07 | Duty to Call Out | 2 | why?Active-duty / self-correct-over-self-protect. ProPublica and four current and former officials found her testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Lewandowski had no role in approving DHS contracts was false. No record of her calling out wrongdoing at cost to herself; the documented posture was concealment-leaning. Below the passive-clean middle, the accountability moment was met with misdirection, not transparency. [source] |
| M08 | The Discretion Test | 3 | why?The Discretion Test, how power and latitude are used over those who cannot resist, and judgment with the trust of the office. The CECOT detainee-as-backdrop video is the central instance: latitude exercised over persons in custody who could not refuse. Secondary, an operational-security lapse, carrying her DHS access badge and ~$3,000 cash in a bag left vulnerable in a public restaurant. Below middle on the character/discretion axis. [source] |
| M09 | The No-Camera Test | 3 | why?Authenticity / consistency between the marketed account and the verifiable record. The cowboy Mount Rushmore promotional persona and confident public assertions sit against a record that did not hold up, the false habeas definition under oath and the contradicted testimony about Lewandowski contracting role. The gap between the projected command and the documented record places her below middle. [source] |
| M10 | Constituent-vs-Donor Vote | 2 | why?Stewardship of the institution she actually ran. A GAO report found FEMA broke federal law six times withholding congressionally approved funds; FEMA entered the 2025 hurricane season with roughly 12% of its incident-management workforce; reporting describes disaster-relief backlogs tied to her micromanagement and whistleblower complaints of diverted funds and retaliation. She left DHS in turmoil as the first Cabinet secretary removed. Near the floor, documented systemic mismanagement of the department, with people relying on FEMA bearing the cost. [source] |
| M11 | Net-Worth Trajectory | 3 | why?Office-attributable enrichment only (not raw wealth). Invoices released to CNN document taxpayer money spent on her personal brand in the Mount Rushmore ad: ~$20,000 for the horse, ~$4,000 hair and makeup, ~$50,000 production, $100,000+ in contractor labor, and a $60,000 signing bonus, public funds converted into personal-image capital. Combined with the $80,000 she took personally from a pro-Noem group, the office was used to build the brand. Below middle; the spend is documented, its full legality contested. [source] |
| M12 | Floor Decorum | 3 | why?Decorum / institution-degrading conduct. A sustained spectacle pattern as Secretary, the cowboy Mount Rushmore ad, the CECOT prison photo shoot, repeated tactical-gear ride-along photo ops, tilts the department toward personal-brand theater over institutional seriousness. Not floor-level institution-destruction, but a documented drag toward spectacle. Below middle. [source] |
| M13 | Lying & Misleading | 2 | why?Documented-falsehood axis. A converging pattern as Secretary: the false habeas-corpus definition under oath, testimony about Lewandowski contracting role that reporting and four officials contradicted, and contested characterizations of Kilmar Abrego Garcia presented as fact. Statements that did not hold up against the record place her near the floor on truthfulness. [source] |
| M14 | Knowledge Depth | 3 | why?Functional capacity to execute THIS office, and here, unlike her governorship, it is genuinely in question. The GAO mismanagement findings, the depleted FEMA going into hurricane season, the basic constitutional error under oath, the inter-agency dysfunction, and removal as the first Cabinet casualty after ~13 months together indicate a tenure that did not functionally command the department. Below middle; this scores capacity-to-execute, separate from the conduct breaches above. [source] |
Why not higher, the points withheld
The standard is the seat; the ceiling is a perfect 10. Every withheld point traces to documented conduct, weighed where the measures and attributes say it belongs, shown openly here, the same way the earned points are.
| Where | Documented conduct | Mitigation weighed |
|---|---|---|
| M04 | GAO (Sep 15 2025) found FEMA under her DHS violated federal law six times withholding/delaying congressionally appropriated funds; ~$220M sole-source ad contracts flowed to a firm tied to her chief spokesperson; DHS IG opened a contracts probe (Apr 2026). ↳ abuse of institutional power / defiance of appropriations authority | IG probe pending; some violations characterized administratively, not yet adjudicated criminally. |
| M06 | Omitted an $80,000 dark-money payment (via LLC Ashwood Strategies) from the sworn federal disclosure filed for DHS confirmation; ad contract conflict with spokesperson spouse firm. ↳ fiduciary non-disclosure + conflict of interest | Counsel asserts OGE clearance; reported, contested legality. |
| M07 | ProPublica and four officials found her Senate Judiciary testimony that Lewandowski had no DHS contracting role was false. ↳ self-protect over self-correct; misleading Congress | - |
| M10 | GAO mismanagement findings; FEMA at ~12% incident-management workforce entering hurricane season; relief backlogs; whistleblower complaints; department left in turmoil at removal. ↳ stewardship failure of the institution she ran | - |
| M13 | False habeas-corpus definition under oath (May 20 2025); contradicted Lewandowski testimony; contested Abrego Garcia characterizations stated as fact. ↳ documented-falsehood pattern | - |
| M03 | CECOT video staged detainees as a backdrop; labeled two U.S.-citizen deaths in the Minneapolis surge domestic terrorism and declined to apologize. ↳ persons used instrumentally / regard for persons | - |
| M11 | Mount Rushmore ad invoices: ~$20K horse, ~$4K hair/makeup, ~$50K production, $100K+ labor, $60K signing bonus, public funds to personal brand; plus $80K personal income from a pro-Noem group. ↳ office-attributable self-enrichment / brand-building on public funds | - |
| M12 | Sustained spectacle: cowboy Mount Rushmore ad, CECOT photo shoot, tactical-gear ride-along photo ops. ↳ spectacle over institutional seriousness | - |
| M01 | Defied binding court orders on certain CECOT deportations; defined habeas corpus under oath as a presidential removal power. ↳ rule-of-law fidelity breach | - |
| M14 | GAO mismanagement; depleted FEMA; basic constitutional error under oath; removed as first Cabinet casualty after ~13 months. ↳ capacity-to-execute the office in question | - |
| Pillar I | Misleading Congress and the IG-probe posture cut against Accountability and Honesty. ↳ Accountability/Honesty drag | - |
| Pillar II | The cowboy-ad marketed self against the under-oath constitutional error and contradicted testimony. ↳ Authenticity/Honesty drag | - |
| Pillar III | FEMA mismanagement harmed disaster victims who relied on neutral competent protection; detainees used as props. ↳ Stewardship/Protection failure | - |
| Pillar IV | Self-dealing ad spend, disclosure omission, and spectacle make a contested rather than emulable legacy. ↳ Integrity/Justice drag | - |
The Four Pillars, worthy to be followed?
A separate axis from the 14 measures. The measures ask did their conduct meet the standard; the Pillars ask is this someone worthy to be elevated and followed at all. The two can diverge, when they do, the divergence is the finding.
| # | Pillar | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Trust & Loyalty
| 3 | why?Loyalty and Presence are real, but Accountability and Honesty drag hard, false testimony to Congress about Lewandowski contracting role and the IG-probe posture are the opposite of the accountability this pillar demands. Low. |
| II | Aspiration & Integrity
| 2 | why?The marketed self badly outran the verifiable one: a taxpayer-funded cowboy image campaign against a false habeas definition under oath and contradicted testimony. Authenticity and Honesty both undercut. Near the floor. |
| III | Protection & Influence
| 2 | why?Stewardship is the central failure, GAO found FEMA broke federal law withholding lifesaving funds and entered hurricane season at ~12% of incident-management staff; disaster victims relying on neutral competent protection bore the cost, and detainees were used as props. Near the floor. |
| IV | Legacy & Virtue
| 2 | why?Self-dealing ad spend, the disclosure omission, the spectacle, and removal as the first Cabinet casualty make a contested, cautionary legacy rather than an emulable one. Near the floor. |
| TOTAL: Unfit | 9/40 |
Total 9/40, Failing range. The character record converges across all four pillars: accountability-avoidance, the marketed-vs-real gap, institutional mismanagement, and self-dealing.
What the Four Pillars are & the questions behind each →
In their own words
“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.”
Senate Homeland Security hearing; the definition inverts the writ (a detainee right to challenge unlawful detention). · NPR · CONTESTED · cite
“Then-Governor Noem fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law.”
Statement by Noem lawyer responding to the ProPublica dark-money disclosure report. · ProPublica · CONTESTED · cite
Full personnel file
1. Identity
This dossier scores Kristi Noem CONDUCT as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (confirmed Jan 25, 2025; removed by President Trump effective Mar 31, 2026, reassigned to a new Special Envoy role and replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, the first Cabinet secretary to leave the second Trump administration). It is a SEPARATE record from her tenure as Governor of South Dakota (2019-2025), see the companion dossier at /p/noem. A person is scored on conduct in EACH office held; the two records are not averaged. Policy (immigration, border, disaster strategy) is not scored in either direction; this record grades documented conduct, ethics, stewardship, and truthfulness.
3. Constitutional Moments
Executive-fidelity record as Secretary is adverse on conduct. Federal judges found DHS defied binding court orders on certain CECOT deportations; GAO found FEMA violated federal law six times withholding congressionally appropriated funds, defiance of both the judicial check and Congress power of the purse. Under oath she inverted the definition of habeas corpus. These are scored as conduct and as a capping institutional-norm flag, not as policy.
4. Rhetoric & Discourse Profile
A nationally branded, spectacle-forward communications style (the Mount Rushmore cowboy ad, the CECOT prison video, tactical ride-along photo ops). The scorecard does not grade partisan tone or policy messaging. The rhetoric concerns that DO score are truthfulness-based (the habeas misstatement, the contradicted Lewandowski testimony) under M09 and M13, and the instrumental use of detainees under M03.
5. Fiduciary Profile
The fiduciary record is adverse. She omitted an $80,000 dark-money payment, routed through her LLC, from the sworn federal disclosure filed for DHS confirmation, called a likely violation by ethics experts. DHS awarded up to ~$220M in sole-source advertising work that flowed to a firm whose CEO is married to her chief DHS spokesperson, and a DHS IG probe of her contracting is open. Reporting describes aide Lewandowski avoiding government email and badging to dodge records. The convergence is the basis for near-floor M06/M11.
6. Severity-Class Conduct
One capping severity flag (Criterion 8, institutional-norm / process subversion), grounded in official findings: the GAO report of six FEMA legal violations withholding appropriated funds and federal-court findings of defied deportation orders. No terminal flag, no use of force against persons to seize or hold power. Remaining matters (IG probe, some ethics questions) are weighed as drags through the composite where documented and held back where only alleged. No criminal conviction of record as of this writing.
7. What The Framework Says
As DHS Secretary her conduct lands near the bottom of the scale. Policy is not what sinks it, her immigration and border choices are not scored. The conduct is: GAO findings that FEMA broke federal law withholding lifesaving funds, ~$220M in no-bid self-promoting ad contracts tied to her own spokesperson, an $80,000 income omitted from a sworn federal disclosure, a false definition of habeas corpus under oath, testimony to Congress contradicted by four officials, detainees staged as video props, and a department left in such turmoil that she became the first Cabinet secretary removed from the second Trump administration. Well below the bar, with a capping institutional-norm flag.
8. Sources & Where To Look Deeper
Research links: ABC News, ouster recap / tumultuous tenure · CNN, Mount Rushmore ad invoices · ProPublica, dark-money income / disclosure omission · ProPublica, misled Senate Judiciary on Lewandowski contracts · NPR, habeas corpus testimony · GAO/FEMA mismanagement (Stanton-Pallone release)
Scores derive from the fixed Constitutional Weight Schedule. The bar does not move. Conduct, not party.