Kristi Noem appeared before the Senate and House Judiciary panels last week where she was questioned not only about her professional decisions, but also about her alleged affair with Corey Lewandowski.
In recent times, Noem has been severely criticized by both Democratic and Republican leaders, who have alleged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have misused their powers and used excessive force on immigrants, even in situations that did not require them to.
As the Homeland Security secretary, Noem is answerable for the behavior of the federal immigration agents. Previously, she had strongly supported the way ICE operated. Tensions escalated after ICE agents fatally shot two citizens, Rene Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, in Minnesota.
The Homeland Security secretary had questionably called both of them “domestic terrorists,” despite video evidence showing that neither of them were aggressive toward ICE agents during the protests.
While the Trump administration had tried to justify the shootings by claiming that the agents had acted in self-defense, video footage showed that both Pretti and Good did not pose any threat to the officers.
DHS’s $300M Purchase Of 3 Luxury Jets For Sec. Kristi Noem Sparks Bipartisan Backlash Over ‘Abuse’ Of Funds Intended For Border Security#KristiNoem #DHS #PoliticalNews
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Now that even Republicans are turning against Noem, Trump has reportedly contacted GOP senators following her testimony to discuss if she should be fired. Previously, a similar situation had arisen because of her alleged affair with Lewandowski.
However, this time, things appears to be more serious as retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina lashed out at Noem, calling her leadership disastrous. While calling for her resignation, he said, “We’re an exceptional nation, and one of the reasons we’re exceptional is because we expect exceptional leadership, and you’ve demonstrated anything but that.”
Senator John Kennedy also questioned Noem over a $200 million ad campaign that featured her asking illegal immigrants to voluntarily leave the United States. Kennedy asked, “How do you square that concern for waste, which I share, with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?”
To this, Noem replied, “Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country, and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from, with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, that they needed to leave, or we would detain them and remove them…”
At the hearing under oath Secretary Noem denied calling Alex Pretti a domestic terrorist. Here’s what she actually said after he was killed by her agents. pic.twitter.com/gK11ERYD0F
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) March 5, 2026
As she was questioned about the reckless behavior of ICE agents, Noem said, “I want to address the dangerous environment that our ICE officers face on the streets today. They are facing a serious and escalating threat as a result of deliberate mischaracterizations of their heroic work and rhetoric that demonizes our law enforcement.”
However, with glaring evidence of ICE’s aggressive tactics, Noem’s attempts at justifying their actions might not work too well in her favor. Moreover, just over a month ago, Senator John Fetterman urged Trump to fire Noem because of her incompetency.
