Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) emerged Tuesday as the first Republican lawmakers to demand the “termination” of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid mounting frustration over the fatal shootings of two citizens by federal immigration officers in Minnesota.
Tillis, who is not seeking reelection in November, said he’d lost “all” confidence in Noem and has communicated to the White House that Trump should fire her if she refuses to resign.
“I think she’s out of her depth,” Tillis said. “She’s proven that she doesn’t know how to lead, how to de-escalate. She’s exposing ICE officers to dangerous situations. She’s exposing U.S. citizens to deadly, deadly situations.”
Tillis questioned Noem’s judgment for accusing Alex Pretti, the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protester who was killed by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis over the weekend, of perpetuating “domestic terrorism” in the immediate hours after the deadly encounter.
“What sort of judgment is that, for somebody who’s running a very consequential, important organization?” Tillis said.
The call for Noem’s ouster was echoed by Murkowski, a centrist who is not up for reelection but is no stranger to bucking her party and Trump. Murkowski told reporters that Noem “needs to be accountable to the chaos and some of the tragedy that we have seen.”
The resignation calls, along with the refusal by other Republicans to defend the Trump Cabinet secretary or their willingness to openly criticize the rhetoric of her and other senior administration officials, revealed the depths to which GOP senators wanted to separate themselves from Noem’s handling of the chaos in Minneapolis. She’s slated to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3 but is concerned about keeping her job amid the PR nightmare, sources told the Washington Examiner.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) declined to say if he maintained confidence in Noem as calls from Democrats grow louder for her resignation, firing, or impeachment.
“That’s the president’s judgment call,” Thune said of Noem. The Republican leader described the administration as facing an “inflection point” with mass deportation operations in Maine and Minnesota, presenting an “opportunity to evaluate, and to really assess the policies and the procedures, and how they’re being implemented and put into practice.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), whose primary challenger Trump has endorsed, also dodged a question on his confidence in Noem. He specified he has “confidence in the investigation” into the killings of Pretti and Renee Good, another anti-ICE protester and citizen who was shot and killed earlier this month.
“Given heavy-handed rhetoric and recent events, we have seen an erosion of trust in federal immigration officials growing among too many Americans,” Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) tweeted.
DHS GRAPPLES WITH PR NIGHTMARE AFTER ALEX PRETTI SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS
Tillis went on to accuse Noem of “discrediting” law enforcement officers and, unrelatedly, said she deserved failing grades for managing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, for its efforts to help ravaged parts of Tillis’s state continue to recover from Hurricane Helene in 2024.
“Any CEO that I’ve ever worked for, she’d have been gone last year, let alone what she’s done up to this point,” Tillis said. “I’m a terminate recommendation for the president.”
