GOP senator labels DHS ‘a disaster’ under Kristi Noem’s leadership

At least one GOP senator laced into Kristi Noem’s stewardship of the Department of Homeland Security as she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, calling her tenure a “disaster.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who has upped his criticism of President Donald Trump since announcing his retirement, said to Noem that the DHS is “a disaster under your leadership” and doubled down on calling for her resignation.

He criticized Noem for writing about killing both a dog and a goat in her book, calling the incidents “bad decisions made in the heat of the moment, not unlike what happened up in Minneapolis.”

On the topic of Minneapolis, Tillis also alleged that Trump put border czar Tom Homan in charge of that operation over Noem because he “recognized that you weren’t getting it done.” And Tillis reiterated a demand for information on the agency’s operations in Charlotte, North Carolina, and added that he would work to delay future committee proceedings and certain presidential nominees if Noem didn’t deliver.

Noem appeared before the committee on Tuesday morning in a dark suit and heels, flanked by a handful of people in the audience who held up photos prior to the hearing and declared they represented the families of victims of crime by “illegal aliens.”

In her opening statement, Noem defended the conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and claimed they are facing “serious and escalating threats as a result of deliberate mischaracterizations of their heroic work and rhetoric that demonizes our law enforcement.”

She also blamed Democrats for the ongoing shutdown of her department, calling it “reckless” and “unnecessary.”

DHS has been technically shut down since Feb. 14, as Democrats and Republicans spar over funding the department in the wake of the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis in January. Democrats proposed significant reforms for ICE, and the White House offered a counterproposal that has not been made public.

Noem told the committee that law enforcement officers are already using body cameras, as Democrats have requested in the negotiations to reopen the agency, but that DHS needs additional funding for them. She added that she opposed Democrats’ proposed ban on masks for federal agents, alleging they need “to be protected from doxing and from threats.”

Asked by the committee’s ranking member, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., why she called Pretti and Good “domestic terrorists,” Noem called their deaths “tragic situations.” But she defended her hasty and inaccurate descriptions of them, claiming that at the time she received “reports from the ground from agents at the scene” suggesting they were violent — despite video evidence to the contrary.

Later, during an exchange with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Noem said she “can’t even imagine what [their families] have gone through.” But when pressed by Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., about whether she wanted to apologize to the victims’ parents for branding them “domestic terrorists,” Noem dodged the request.

Republicans used the threat of retaliation by Iran to call for prompt funding of DHS.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., held up a poster depicting the shooter who killed 3 people and injured 14 others at a bar in Austin, Texas, over the weekend. The shooter, 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, had a history of mental illness and is dead.

Investigators are looking into whether Diagne, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Senegal, was potentially motivated by the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. But Graham zeroed in on the fact that the shooter was wearing a “Property of Allah” sweatshirt, as two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation told MS NOW.

“Wonder how many people are like that here, waiting to pounce, and DHS doesn’t have appropriated funds,” Graham said. “This is insane.”

But in fact, the more controversial DHS agencies, such as ICE and Customs and Border Protection, have continued operating. More than 90% of DHS employees are considered “excepted” from the government shutdown and will continue working without standard pay. DHS received billions of dollars from the GOP’s reconciliation bill last summer, some of which is reportedly being used to pay more than 57,000 CBP employees who have continued working. Others will miss their first paycheck on March 12.

Nonetheless, lawmakers contend, Noem spent some of the department’s budget lavishly. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., questioned Noem about the purchase of a $70 million luxury jet that came complete with a bedroom.

But Noem repeated the DHS line that the jet is being used by other officials and for deportations. She said she was on the plane once and suggested that it is being refurbished.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., questioned Noem about a $220 million television ad campaign that prominently features her and was produced by a firm she has close ties to, according to a ProPublica report.

Noem denied having any involvement in picking the contractors involved with the ad campaign and said Trump approved the budget — a claim Kennedy said was “hard for me to believe.”

Noem repeatedly deflected criticism by referring to “angel families” — the loved ones of people killed by undocumented immigrants, several of whom were present at the hearing. She also repeated a disproven — yet oft-repeated — claim that the Biden administration lost thousands of immigrant children in its custody.

Tuesday’s hearing was contentious from the start, with a protester saying Noem should be ashamed for protecting “the Epstein class” as she entered the room. Police subsequently removed that protester.

Just before Noem spoke, another protester who identified themselves as a former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee shouted, “you have disgraced your agency,” “abolish ICE” and “you should be ashamed of yourself.” The protester was tackled by an officer and led out of the room. Later, a third protester was also removed.

Noem’s testimony comes a little more than a week after ICE whistleblower Ryan Schwank testified at a congressional forum that the agency is “lying to Congress and the American people” about its training of new recruits.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Conn., asked Noem about the whistleblower’s testimony, which the secretary dismissed.

Also last month, a lawyer for Marimar Martinez, a woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago in October, said the agent is now under criminal investigation — though the Department of Justice in February declined to confirm the probe.

Martinez was in the room at Noem’s hearing on Tuesday, and introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Asked about Martinez’s case and whether she condemned the officer’s conduct, Noem said she didn’t “know the situation” but pledged to “look into it.”

There were also concerns among lawmakers that, in an effort to manipulate the outcome of the midterms — and to dissuade people from voting — the Trump administration could deploy ICE agents to polls this year. Asked about the concept by Coons, Noem said, “there are no plans to have ICE officers at our polling locations,” but she declined to rule it out.

Noem will also testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.

Jack Fitzpatrick contributed reporting.