DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Grilled By Republican Senators

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been a nonstop source of controversy ever since Kristi Noem was appointed to head the agency. DHS oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Noem’s handling of the mass deportation effort being conducted by ICE and CBP has been so poor that it has resulted in DHS having its funding withheld by Congress. Noem testified before members of the Senate on Tuesday to defend her actions as the head of DHS and implore for funding to be restored to the agency. 

According to NPR, Noem immediately went on the defensive when she initially addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

“Senate Democrats who have chosen not to fund the department and have held this department hostage,” she said in her opening remarks. “As a result, critical national security missions, including border security, immigration enforcement, aviation security, disaster response, cybersecurity, and the protection of critical infrastructure, are all being strained.” 

Noem added that DHS has struggled to prepare for the upcoming World Cup, which honestly might be a good thing, as I’m sure we’re inevitably going to hear horror stories of people visiting from other countries being harassed by ICE simply because they want to watch their country’s team play some soccer. 

Surprisingly, one area of bipartisan agreement is that Noem is not very good at her job. Both Republicans and Democrats on the panel grilled Noem about ICE and CBP’s conduct in Minnesota. Throughout late December and most of January, ICE and CBP agents conducted “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis. Thousands of ICE agents were deployed to the city, causing widespread chaos and killing two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, all in the name of immigration enforcement.

The response by Noem, DHS, and the Department of Justice after the shootings of Good and Pretti received bipartisan criticism. Noem rushed to label the victims as domestic terrorists within hours of both shootings. Sen. Dick Durbin, the panel’s top Democrat, pressed Noem about her description of Good and Pretti. 

“And you believe calling victims of that violence domestic terrorists as a way to calm the scene?” Durbin asked Noem.

Noem doubled down on her labeling of Pretti and Good, responding that “These violent terrorists have put them in a situation where – it’s unprecedented what these agents have faced,” before adding there’s always “room for improvement.” 

First, both Alex Pretti and Renee Good were lawfully observing federal agents. Second, what’s unprecedented is ICE being utilized to enact state terror upon both immigrants and citizens in U.S. cities. 

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has clearly embraced his impending retirement, as the Hill reports he did not hold back in his criticism of Noem. “I’m giving you a performance evaluation here – I’m not looking for a response,” said Tillis, adding that “time after time after time, I’ve been disappointed.” For 10 minutes straight, Tillis read Noem so thoroughly for filth that I’m honestly surprised he didn’t have the “Ether” beat playing the entire time. 

“We just want numbers. We want a thousand a day, 6,000 a day, 9,000 a day, because numbers matter, right? No, they don’t matter. Quality Matters, not quantity; quality. And what we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem, a disaster,” Tillis said. He added that the arrest quotas given to ICE have turned public opinion against the agency. “What we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained that, turns out, are American citizens.”

DHS also oversees FEMA, which has been a major source of controversy due to changes made by Noem and President Donald Trump within the organization. Noem is effectively trying to dismantle FEMA, which has led to a mass exodus of experts and leadership at the agency. Last summer, Noem created a new policy requiring her to personally write off any spending over $100,000. 

Tillis revealed a chart showing how drastically FEMA reimbursements have fallen since the implementation of the policy, adding that he would be requesting a breakdown of how much money has been withheld by Noem. “I’m convinced you can’t do it – if you’re requesting a review of $100,000 and up. That affects the question why? Why would you be involved in that? Why would that be a policy?” he said. 

“The Homeland Security Act of 2002 expressly prohibits the Secretary of Homeland Security from restricting or diverting FEMA resources from the agency’s mission. Based on your disaster response, the chart that I just showed you, I have reason to believe that you’re violating the law, either knowingly or unknowingly.”

It’s honestly crazy how many fires Kristi Noem has managed to light in only a year. 

Tillis even brought up the story Noem told in her book about killing a 14-month-old dog as an example of her poor leadership skills. “You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time in training. And then you have the audacity to go into a book and say it’s a leadership lesson about tough choices,” he said.

Listen. If someone brought up my dead dog as a reason why I suck at my job, I would probably just go ahead and quit. Noem is set to face the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, where I’m sure she will face a similar level of scrutiny. 

SEE ALSO:

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