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Thom Tillis compared Kristi Noem’s tenure to the time she killed a 14-month-old dog and chalked it up to a leadership lesson, Alex Woodward writes as the Homeland Security Secretary returns to Congress
Tuesday 03 March 2026 21:20 GMT- Bookmark
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Close popoverRepublican senator rips into Kristi Noem over DHS leadership in tense hearing
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The last time she testified before members of Congress, in December, Kristi Noem faced an avalanche of questions about the Trump administration’s efforts to quickly arrest and deport tens of thousands of immigrants in a nationwide dragnet that has ruptured communities across the country.
That was before federal immigration agents fatally shot two American citizens in Minnesota. And before media reports revealed officers killed a third American one year ago. Noem is a defendant in a massive pile of lawsuits alleging unconstitutional arrests and illegal use of force that grows by the dozens every day. The Department of Justice is failing to defend them. Her chief spokesperson left the agency after accusations of corruption and self-dealing.
But over four hours of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Noem appeared to be mostly ambivalent.
Donald Trump’s Homeland Security secretary repeatedly declined to apologize for suggesting Alex Pretti and Renee Good were domestic terrorists and instead offered indifferent condolences to their families. At one point, she tried to clarify that she was accusing Pretti and Good of committing terrorism, not that they were terrorists themselves.
Even Republican members of the committee weren’t buying it.
open image in galleryHomeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem refused to apologize for baselessly suggesting Alex Pretti and Renee Good were domestic terrorists after they were fatally shot by federal agents (AFP via Getty Images)“The fact you can’t admit to a mistake — which looks like, under investigation, is going to prove that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and in the back,” said Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, spent nearly five minutes laying into Noem and her leadership at the agency.
“What we’ve seen is a disaster,” he said.
He compared the secretary’s tenure at DHS to her anecdote about killing a 14-month-old dog and “the audacity to say it’s a leadership lesson about tough choices.”
Tillis also called for the secretary to resign and threatened to bring Senate business to a standstill unless her office responds to questions about an aggressive immigration enforcement blitz in his state that have gone unanswered.
Even John Kennedy, a Trump-aligned senator from Louisiana who relishes any opportunity to fire off a feigned folksy aphorism, spent several painful minutes trying to get the secretary to answer why she would baselessly accuse American citizens of domestic terrorism after her officers shot them at point-blank range.
Kennedy pushed her to explain why DHS paid more than $200 million for an ad campaign that prominently features the secretary telling immigrants to leave the country voluntarily — and whether Trump knew about the price tag.
Noem insisted they were “effective.”
“Well, they were effective in your name recognition,” Kennedy shot back.
open image in galleryRepublican Senator Thom Tillis called on Noem to resign after he compared her tenure at DHS to the time she admitted to killing a 14-month-old dog (AP)Watching her testimony inside the building were at least three people who have accused immigration agents of unlawfully arresting them, including Marimar Martinez, an American citizen who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago last year.
The case against Martinez imploded after evidence against her fell apart, marking yet another embarrassing loss for DHS.
Noem, unconvincingly, said she was “not familiar” with the case against Martinez.
When it comes to the killings of Good and Pretti, Noem was “getting reports from the ground, from agents at the scene,” which she called “chaotic.”
“You believe calling the victims of violence ‘domestic terrorists’ is a way to calm the scene?” asked Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee’s top Democrat.
“Do you have any concern about misleading the whole country?” asked Senator Adam Schiff.
“Knowing what you know now,” said Senator Peter Welch, “do you want to apologize?”
Noem, staring blankly, did not.
Her agency is “devoid of any moral compass,” “reckless,” “utterly incompetent,” enabling an “incredible empire” for private prison contractors and unleashing “unspeakable cruelty” towards children and immigrant families, according to Democrats on the committee.
She barely refuted their statements.
“Do you care enough about the human rights of the men, women and children in your custody to improve conditions as required by the courts?” asked California Senator Alex Padilla, who was tackled by federal officers last year after he tried to confront her during a press conference.
“Yes, absolutely,” Noem said.
There are “unfortunate situations where individuals pass away” in DHS custody, she said.
Those “unfortunate situations” include the deaths of at least 32 people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in 2025 and at least eight so far this year — putting 2026 on track to pass last year’s record high.
open image in galleryDemocrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Noem about the shootings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti and Marimar Martinez. Noem said she wasn’t even familiar with the case of Martinez (right) being shot five times by Border Patrol (Getty Images)Tuesday’s hearing arrived in the middle of the ongoing funding lapse at DHS after Democrats blocked a spending bill that they say does not go far enough to restrain immigration officers, after giving ICE billions of dollars to build detention centers and hire a small army of new recruits last year.
Several Republicans tried to turn Noem’s testimony into an oversight hearing against Joe Biden’s administration, or seized on the administration’s campaign in Iran to suggest Democrats are endangering national security during the shutdown, which she called “reckless” and “unnecessary.”
At least three-quarters of House Democrats are backing a resolution to impeach Noem, a virtual guarantee if they take control of Congress after midterm elections this fall. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker urged her to step down or face impeachment.
“I appreciate the encouragement,” she replied.
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