Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina ramped up his criticism of Trump administration officials Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller this week. This move marks a growing rift with President Donald Trump as Minnesota remains at the center of a heated debate over federal immigration enforcement after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents.
Tillis and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both Republicans, called for Noem to resign as homeland security secretary after federal agents in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in January.
Border chief Tom Homan has taken control of the federal operation in Minnesota and announced Thursday that the administration would come up with a plan to significantly lower the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the state. Tillis shared a video of Homan’s press conference on X, stating, “This is what competent leadership looks like. Noem and Miller, take notes.”
In response to the GOP criticism, Trump attacked the senators personally. In an interview with ABC News published Wednesday, Trump labeled Tillis and Murkowski “losers” and said, “They’re terrible senators. One is gone and the other should be gone,” referring to Tillis’ decision not to run for reelection.
Tillis addressed Trump’s comments while speaking with reporters on Capitol Hill. “I am thrilled about that,” he said. “That makes me qualified to be Homeland Security secretary AND senior adviser to the president,” according to Newsweek. He also accused Noem and Miller of “incompetence” as the administration deals with growing political backlash from events in Minnesota.
BREAKING: Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina just went off on Kristi Noem, Greg Bovino and the Trump administration!
“I think what she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job…it’s just amateurish.”
The dam is breaking! pic.twitter.com/P4WHmfPhhE
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 27, 2026
This dispute has unfolded as federal officials change their approach in Minnesota amid protests, legal challenges, and increasing political pressure. Reuters reported that Homan described a shift toward more focused enforcement, emphasizing the detention of individuals with criminal records. He suggested the administration might reduce the deployment of around 3,000 federal agents if local cooperation improves.
In the Newsweek report, Tillis pointed out Homan’s outreach to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison as a sign of a shift in direction. Newsweek stated that Homan and Ellison discussed a plan for county jails to inform ICE about the release of certain public-safety risks, which state Democratic leaders argued could lower street-level encounters while federal agents continue pursuing immigration cases.
However, Trump has continued to publicly defend Noem. ABC News reported that Trump called Noem’s performance “fantastic,” even as calls for her resignation intensified and federal officials faced scrutiny over decisions made before the shootings.
The deaths of Good and Pretti highlighted the national debate over federal immigration enforcement tactics and the limits of federal authority in Democratic-led areas. Reuters reported that internal ICE guidance in Minnesota urged agents to de-escalate, limit interactions with protesters, and focus on enforcement targets linked to criminal charges or convictions.
For Tillis, this clash has also exposed growing tensions within the GOP regarding how the administration has managed the situation in Minnesota. While he has criticized senior officials, Trump has framed dissent as disloyalty, arguing that federal operations have removed dangerous criminals from communities. ABC News quoted Trump saying, “A lot of the hardest work is already done,” and that agents had taken “thousands of stone-cold criminals” off the streets.
