Senate Republicans join Democrats in grilling Noem over ICE shooting deaths

WASHINGTON- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived at a Senate oversight hearing Tuesday ready to confront Democrats in her first appearance at the Capitol since federal agents fatally shot U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.

But some of the Judiciary Committee’s sharpest comments came from Republican colleagues, who questioned her leadership, criticized her spending practices and asked her to admit that she was wrong to call Pretti and Good “domestic terrorists.”

“What we have seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem, a disaster,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “The fact is, you can’t even admit to a mistake. It looks like an investigation is going to prove that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and back.”

Tillis virtually didn’t question Noem on details, choosing instead to deliver a blistering and voluminous “performance review” of the Homeland Security secretary. He accused Stephen Miller, an adviser to Noem and Trump, of prioritizing deportation quotas instead of investigating “vicious” ICE agents involved in the Minnesota shootings.

“We are not going after those who caused this damage at the expense of the numbers that Stephen Miller wants out of the White House,” he said. “We just want numbers. We want 1,000 a day, 6,000 a day, 9,000 a day. Because numbers matter, right? No, they don’t matter. Quality matters.”

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also addressed Pretti and Good: “Have you determined whether there was any basis for the sensational claim, a claim that turned out to be completely false, that these two victims were engaged in domestic terrorism?” he asked.

Noem used the hearing to defend a series of decisions now subject to bipartisan review. She said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers face “serious and growing threats” from what she called “deliberate misinterpretations” of their work.

She called the Minneapolis deaths “tragic situations” and said the term “domestic terrorists” was based on initial information she received from city officials. “It was a chaotic scene,” Noem said. She did not apologize for using the phrase or say it was inaccurate.

Noem supported President Trump’s mass deportation agenda and said ICE was focused on “the worst of the worst.” A recent report from the Cato Institute found that only 5 percent of ICE detainees have been convicted of violent offenses, and three-quarters have no criminal convictions.

The hearing came amid a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, triggered last month when Senate Democrats blocked funding in an impasse over immigration enforcement practices. As tensions rise in Iran, lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the security risks of leaving the department unfunded.

In her opening statement, Noem called the shutdown “reckless” and “unnecessary” and accused Democrats of endangering U.S. security.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked pointed questions about a $200 million ad campaign promoting immigration enforcement — one that featured Noem and was attributed to a company run by a friend. Such spending “bothers me,” he said, adding: “I just can’t agree with that, Madam Secretary. My research shows you haven’t made an offer.”

Noem argued that Trump had directed the messaging strategy and argued that it had been “extremely effective” in deterring illegal immigration. She said she “had nothing to do with the choice of these contractors.”

The exchanges grew increasingly heated as Kennedy also criticized Noem for calling Good and Pretti domestic terrorists.

“What caught my attention is that you attributed these statements to Mr. Stephen Miller,” Kennedy said, referring to an Axios report quoting Noem.

She dodged questions, saying the sources Axios used in the report were “anonymous” and, by her logic, not very credible.

“It wasn’t anonymous. It was you,” Kennedy said. “They officially quote you saying it was Stephen.”

Repeatedly throughout the hearing, the secretary was asked about her purchase of two Gulfstream G700 luxury jets at a combined cost of $200 million in taxpayer funds.

Reportedly designed by New York designer Peter Marino, the planes include private bedrooms with queen-size beds, bathrooms with stand-up showers and electric bidets, and a lounge with a wet bar and wine cooler, according to images obtained by NBC.

Noem argued that the purchases were authorized by Congress for executive travel and deportation operations.

In another testy exchange, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons pressed Noem over recent statements that she planned to station ICE agents at polling places in November, to “make sure we have the right people voting and electing the right leaders.” She said her ministry had no such plan in place, but had not committed to ruling it out.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has endorsed investigations into the ICE shootings, even though his statements were largely aimed at portraying Noem in a favorable light.

“I would like to make sure that there was a bad shooting as documented, and that people pay the price. But I will not apologize to anyone in this room for trying to clean up the mess that Biden started and that you allowed,” he said.

Democrats, meanwhile, accused Noem of presiding over “rogue” and “illegal” law enforcement tactics and demanded independent investigations into several incidents across the United States.

Accusing Noem of routinely making false statements about ICE shooting victims while obstructing national, local and independent investigations, Schiff cited an episode in which immigration agents shot U.S. citizen and Chicago resident Marimar Martinez. In November, a federal judge raised concerns that agents had mishandled or destroyed key physical evidence in the case.

“Our internal investigations follow the same policies as they always have,” Noem responded.

“Do you want to take some responsibility?” Schiff said. “How is the public supposed to believe anything your agency says or finds?” »

More than 180 lawmakers have co-sponsored articles of impeachment against Noem. Tillis and Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski last month called on Noem to resign or face impeachment by Congress.

On Tuesday, Tillis said his responses to the committee amounted to obstruction. “This is a failure of leadership, and that is why I have asked for your resignation,” he said.