Noem’s Frayed Congressional Ties Strain After Minnesota Shooting

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem irked some members of Congress even before the crisis unfolding in Minneapolis, undercutting her support as she now fights to keep her job.

Despite her glossy public profile, Noem rarely appears on Capitol Hill for hearings, and some Republicans have fumed at her department’s responses to disasters. Her policy requiring her personal sign-off on expenses exceeding $100,000, they say, has dramatically slowed recoveries after hurricanes and floods.

“I’ve been in a lot of C-suites before, and I’ve advised a lot of senior people,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a former management consultant, said in an interview Wednesday. “None of them would have their jobs if they were performing the way she’s performing.”

Adding to the frustration is a sense among some lawmakers that Noem, a former House member, has stiff-armed Congress. The criticisms — including from some Republicans — suggest Noem didn’t start with a deep reservoir of goodwill on Capitol Hill even before her agency set off the worst political crisis of President Donald Trump’s second term. The fallout, including the threat of a government shutdown this week, has raised questions about Noem’s long-term job security.

She’s attended one public hearing in the past eight months, in December, even as she has overseen a sweeping, often militaristic immigration crackdown, according to a Bloomberg Government review of congressional records. She hasn’t sat before senators for public questioning since May.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, publicly complained in December that he offered Noem two dates to testify, only for the Department of Homeland Security to decline both and offer no alternatives.

“It irritates us on the committee that she’s taken so long,” Grassley said in a brief interview Wednesday.

FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi both appeared before the committee last year, in addition to their confirmation hearings there. Noem, facing calls for her job after the Saturday shooting of protester Alex Pretti, agreed to testify to the panel on March 3.

Meanwhile Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), who chairs the Homeland Security committee that oversees Noem’s department, launched an investigation this week into why $1 billion of Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster response aid owed to New York health facilities have gone unpaid, Newsday reported. He also called top DHS immigration officials in for a February hearing.

None of the earlier frustrations approached the level of anger since immigration agents killed Pretti and another Minnesota protester, Renee Good, this month. Several senators or aides who complained about Noem’s interactions with Congress said those concerns are distinct from their alarm over how she handled the shootings.

Noem’s job appears safe for now. Trump said this week he’ll keep her in place and that “she’s doing a very good job,” though he also dispatched border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to take over enforcement there.

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.

‘Wonder’ About Qualifications

Noem’s last Senate hearing was May 20, meaning she will go nearly 10 months between public appearances before the upper chamber — aggravating lawmakers who see such events as a chance to explain the administration’s approach, hold it accountable, or elicit commitments.

“It really makes you wonder about the qualifications of somebody if they don’t think they can withstand one round of 10 minute questions,” said Tillis, who has stalled DHS nominees over his long-running anger at FEMA’s pace in helping North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene.

He and fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) called for Noem’s job this week.

Noem’s relatively few public appearances before lawmakers mirror some common features of the second Trump term: broad disregard of Congress, and little Republican push back.

“You would expect the secretary of Homeland Security to be willing to answer questions that the American people want to have answered,” said Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Senate homeland security committee.

‘Need to Have Her’

While the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services have agreed to testify before the House and Senate homeland security committees in February, Peters said Noem should also appear.

“If we’re really going to get to the bottom of what’s going on, we need to have her,” he said.

Noem still has some backers on the Hill. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said this week he “absolutely” retains confidence in her.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the homeland security committee, said she’s accessible and open to him personally.

He also said hearings “are good for the American people” and “get everybody on the same page.”

Some key lawmakers, however, have declined to offer public support. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), once Noem’s home state colleague, said this week only that she serves at the pleasure of the president.

Noem’s pledge to testify in March left Democrats unimpressed. The hearing will come more than a month after Pretti’s killing.

Garbarino, the Republican Homeland Security chair, pointed to the importance of public events when Noem came before his committee in December.

“Oversight is not unfair and asking questions is not unwarranted,” he said. “We must ensure the people’s representatives are informed.”