Gop Runs Cover For Noem As House Dems Try To Corner Dhs Chief

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee pressed Homeland Security Kristi Noem to answer for alleged misconduct at her agency, but they mostly failed to score major political points as the embattled DHS chief remained unfazed and stuck to her talking points.

Democrats questioned Noem about alleged graft under her watch, as well as alleged misconduct by immigration officers, including the killings of 37-year-old Minneapolis residents and U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good in January. Democrats in particular slammed Noem for labeling both “domestic terrorists” in the immediate aftermath of their killings at the hands of ICE and Border Patrol agents.

“There have been three homicides in Minneapolis in 2026. Your agents committed two of them. Rather than work with state and local authorities to solve these homicides, you barred Minnesota's investigators from the crime scenes, said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the committee. “You're denying them access to all the evidence that you have about the deaths of their citizens. It smells like a cover-up. And it makes me wonder who the real domestic terrorists are.”

At the same time, Republicans were quick to defend the embattled DHS chief, who remained stone-faced throughout. And Noem fought back, saying that House Democrats don’t care about the victims of crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants and were instead trying to stoke political outrage over immigration officers’ conduct.

“Today, they're defending citizens because they know they shouldn't be putting illegal aliens in front of citizens,” Noem said before the House Judiciary Committee. “They've changed their method now. They realize that when they're fighting for people who shouldn't be in this country to begin with, that that's a losing statement with the American people.”

Noem’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee — long considered one of Capitol Hill’s most partisan arenas — was bereft of bipartisanship on Wednesday. Unlike Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where two Republicans joined Democrats in aggressively questioning the Homeland Security secretary, House Republicans were steadfast in their defense of Noem.

Republicans instead pressed their case for a bill the committee will mark up Thursday that would target “sanctuary” jurisdictions which do not collaborate with federal immigration agencies.

When GOP lawmakers did press Noem, their questions were largely local and substantive, and Republicans were fairly circumspect.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) asked for updates about the deployment of body cameras in the field. And Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) asked Noem about programs that FEMA has not yet funded in his district.

Noem said she would look into the delays in the projects in Kiley’s district and also clarified she only reviews contracts and does not need to personally approve DHS grants. On body cameras, Noem said the department was working on distributing the technology, but needed some help from lawmakers to be sure that the acquisitions pass legal muster given the “prescriptive” nature of DHS’ recent funding allocation from Congress.

Committee Republicans, more than in previous congressional hearings, also helped Noem slip out of tense exchanges. After Raskin slammed Noem for reportedly living in a house belonging to the Coast Guard and spending federal funds to purchase “luxury” jets, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) offered Noem a lifeline that allowed her to explain herself.

“The ranking member is entitled to his opinion and to that dialogue berating you and everything the administration's doing. He's just not entitled to its facts,” Issa said.

Republicans repeatedly invoked “angel families,” the family members of those killed by unauthorized immigrants. Angel family members were seated directly behind Noem, holding photos of their deceased loved ones.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) also directly waded into some of Noem’s exchanges with Democrats. When Rep. Zoë Lofgren (D-Calif.) sparred with Noem about the use of administrative warrants, which are not signed by a judge, to enter homes, Jordan interjected to back up Noem and DHS’ interpretation of the law.

“Describe it how you want, it is the law,” Jordan chimed in as he gaveled down Lofgren to signal her time for questioning had elapsed.

Democrats, as in other hearings, managed to get Noem to commit to reviewing specific cases where her department may have erred. And they may have scored a few points against Noem on the detention of American citizens.

In one notable episode, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) brought out four U.S. citizens who she said were detained during protests after Noem initially denied those arrests were occurring.

“Not a single one was charged with a crime. Not a single one, and they were detained,” Jayapal said.

Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) then asked Noem whether agents were detaining American citizens under suspicion they were unauthorized immigrants. When she denied that was occurring, he raised several other alleged examples of those detentions and pressed Noem to clarify what Americans could do to prevent their wrongful arrest by immigration officers. In some cases, agents ignored the U.S. citizens’ efforts to prove their legal status to be in the United States.

“No, I would tell your citizens to be grateful they live in this country where President Trump is upholding the law. We will help them self-deport,” Noem said.

“These are American citizens,” Correa interjected. “Ma’am, if you’re stopped as a U.S. citizen out on the street and you tell people you’re a U.S. citizen and you’re still held … that is not the country we’re supposed to be.”

Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) also took Noem to task about a $143 million contract that DHS gave to a company with ties to political allies back in South Dakota. Noem insisted that the law was followed and that the ad campaign was effective in encouraging people to leave the country.

Neguse, not satisfied with her explanations, warned “I think there’s gonna be accountability” about that ad campaign.

Despite the setbacks, there’s plenty of appetite from House Democrats to hear from Noem, who faces growing calls from Democrats and at least one Republican — Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina — for her ouster. Some House Democrats have already backed impeachment proceedings against Noem, though that effort is unlikely to pass in a Republican-controlled House and almost guaranteed not to lead to Noem’s removal.

Noem has yet to testify before the House Homeland Security Committee, which has the broadest jurisdiction over Noem’s department, since the Minneapolis shootings. And during a related House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday scrutinizing Minnesota policies, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) moved to subpoena Noem.