3 major takeaways from Noem's first oversight hearing since Minneapolis deaths

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced more scrutiny and at least three calls for her resignation on Tuesday from senators on both sides of the aisle.

In her first congressional testimony since federal immigrant agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year, the secretary was asked to answer for her leadership on a number of topics, especially the Trump administration's immigration enforcement ramp-up.

In her opening remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Noem defended her department, which she said is being strained by the partial government shutdown.

"The latest Democrat-led shutdown of DHS is reckless. It's unnecessary, and it undermines the American national security," she said.

The secretary did not acknowledge the shooting deaths of Renee Good or Alex Pretti in her opening statement, but was pressed again and again by lawmakers to explain, retract or apologize for her response in the immediate aftermath of their deaths.

DHS has been roiled by public outcry over its aggressive tactics and the climbing number of shooting deaths — including Good and Pretti, killed weeks apart — at the hands of federal immigration agents. Bystander videos later countered the administration's narratives around these shootings and other violent confrontations with agents.

Watch the clip in the player above.

Across the hearing, Republicans largely blamed the prior administration for its "open-border policies" and thanked Noem for her efforts. But she was not immune to questioning by GOP members on concerns such as the way the agency has used administrative warrants, a multi-million-dollar TV ad campaign funded by taxpayers featuring the secretary herself, and a lagging response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after powerful storms.

Here are three major takeaways from Tuesday's hearing.

Noem avoids walking back her 'domestic terrorism' statements

Watch the clip in the player above.

At the top of the hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., ranking member of the committee, asked Noem if she would like to retract her earlier remarks suggesting that two U.S. citizens killed by federal immigrant agents had been engaging in "domestic terrorism."

Noem said she had gotten her information from agents on the ground.

"It was a chaotic scene," she said.

But senators on both sides of the aisle wanted more information and acknowledgement that her characterization was a mistake.

Watch the clip in the player above.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., read aloud a quote from an Axios story in which she blamed homeland security adviser Stephen Miller for her remarks.

"No one has heard me say that," Noem said, adding that the story hinged on anonymous sources.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Noem whether she had anything to say to Pretti's parents, who were distraught by the way their son was portrayed in the aftermath of his death.

"I did not call him a domestic terrorist," Noem said. "I said it appeared to be an incident of domestic terrorism."

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Noem's claim had "caused endless injury to the victims' families on the basis of God knows what."

"How do you imagine you're going to gain the trust of the American people, if you're pushing out false information about the shooting of American citizens?" the senator added.

Watch the clip in the player above.

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., asked if Noem wanted to apologize for her characterization of the victims.

Noem, as she had done throughout the hearing, offered her condolences and didn't apologize. She did promise to "work hard to give everybody factual information."

Republican calls Noem's leadership a 'disaster'

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Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., was more full-throated than his Republican colleagues in castigating Noem's leadership as a "disaster," especially related to the Minneapolis operation.

"Why can't we just say we made a mistake?" the senator asked, raising his voice.

"The fact that you can't admit to a mistake, which looks like — under investigation — it's going to prove that Miss Good and Mr. Petty probably should not have been shot in the face and in the back."

You don't protect law enforcement by not looking at the facts, Tillis said, stressing that the FBI and all other law enforcement agencies in a jurisdiction should be allowed to investigate shootings involving her agency's officers.

Tillis then cited Noem's 2024 memoir, "No Going Back," to make a broader point about her leadership capabilities. In her book, Noem recounted how she had killed her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, to illustrate how she's willing to make "difficult, messy and ugly" decisions.

"You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time in training, and then you have the audacity to go into a book and say it's a leadership lesson about tough choices," the senator said.

Tillis then called for her resignation. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who followed Tillis, also said Noem should step down.

Noem says there are 'no plans' for ICE agents at polls, but doesn't rule it out

Watch the clip in the player above.

As midterm primary voting was underway in a handful of states Tuesday, one election-related issue cropped up during the hearing: Will there be federal immigration agents stationed at polling locations?

In two separate moments, Noem told Democratic senators there were "no plans" to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling locations during November's midterms elections.

"I'm glad to hear that, but would you rule it out?" Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said. "Would you say it will not happen?"

Noem dodged the question and turned it back onto the senator.

"Do you plan on illegal aliens voting in our elections, Senator?"

Noncitizen voting in statewide elections is exceedingly rare, according to all available data. It has been illegal in U.S. federal elections for more than a century and is a crime that can lead to fines, imprisonment and deportation. Still, President Donald Trump and his allies have falsely claimed there are untold numbers of noncitizens voting in U.S. elections.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., double tapped on the specific concern about ICE agents monitoring voting. He asked if Noem would station ICE agents at the polls if requested by Trump or Miller, even knowing it might violate the law.

Noem turned to the same question she used before.

"Are you planning on sending illegal aliens to vote?" she asked.