Senior congressional Democrats have referred former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to the Justice Department for a perjury investigation. They accuse her of making false statements under oath during House and Senate Judiciary Committee hearings earlier this month.
The referral, sent on March 16 to Attorney General Pam Bondi by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, asks the DOJ to look into whether Noem’s testimony warrants investigation under federal laws related to perjury and false statements to Congress.
In their letter, Durbin and Raskin stated that Noem “repeatedly misled” the Senate Judiciary Committee during her testimony on March 3 and the House Judiciary Committee on March 4. They claimed “a number of her statements appear to violate criminal laws that prohibit perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress.”
The lawmakers pointed out four main areas: DHS compliance with court orders, contracting related to a $220 million ad campaign, detention of U.S. citizens, and detention conditions.
Yes, we’ve referred @Sec_Noem to the DOJ for perjury. Here’s why: pic.twitter.com/Qwmod9crzn
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) March 21, 2026
The referral first highlights Noem’s testimony that DHS complies with federal court orders. According to the letter, Noem told senators and representatives that the department follows those orders, but the lawmakers argued the record shows otherwise. They mentioned a Minnesota federal judge’s finding of 210 instances of ICE violating court orders since December 2025 in that state alone.
The letter also cited a New Jersey case in which a federal judge noted that repeated mistakes can start to seem intentional, adding that “Adherence to court orders is a bedrock feature of our justice system.”
Raskin stated judges had been “absolutely ballistic about it” and accused DHS of making false statements in court and disobeying court orders once they were issued.
The referral also concentrates on Noem’s defense of the DHS advertising campaign, which lawmakers estimated cost about $220 million. During her Senate testimony, Noem claimed the contracts “went out to a competitive bid” and said President Donald Trump approved the spending.
Rep. Raskin to Noem: While you make a daily mockery of our courts and our Constitution, you are treating the billions of dollars our colleagues showered on your department like a personal slush fund pic.twitter.com/7i7b5W79yx
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) March 4, 2026
However, Reuters reported on March 5 that Trump told the news agency, “I never knew anything about it.” Durbin and Raskin argued in their referral that at least one of these accounts must be false. They also mentioned that public reporting indicated the ad work was awarded without “full and open competition.”
Another part of the letter disputes Noem’s claim that DHS does not detain American citizens. The lawmakers wrote that this statement was “demonstrably false,” citing reports that more than 170 U.S. citizens were wrongfully detained in the first nine months of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Some were held for more than a day without contact with lawyers or family. The referral also noted that Durbin’s staff documented at least 40 such cases in Illinois alone between late August and early November 2025.
DHS rejected the accusation. A department spokesperson told ABC News, “Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically FALSE.” The Justice Department also dismissed the referral, stating it had received “the latest political stunt from the Democrats who should instead vote to reopen the Department of Homeland Security.”
Noem had already been removed from her position at DHS. Reuters reported that Trump fired her on March 5 and said he would assign her to a new role as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas while nominating Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to replace her when her tenure ends on March 31.
Durbin and Raskin expressed little expectation that the DOJ would take action now, but they noted that the statute of limitations on perjury and false statements to Congress is five years.
