Two Republican senators joined the growing chorus of lawmakers calling for the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after the death of a Minnesota man over the weekend at the hands of federal immigration agents.
GOP Sens. Thom Tillis, N.C., and Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, on Tuesday called for Noem to leave her post leading DHS, the department charged with overseeing a surge of as many as 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minneapolis as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation push. Federal agents fatally shot ICU nurse Alex Pretti there on Saturday, only a few weeks after the fatal shooting of Renee Good.
On Tuesday, Tillis called on Trump to fire Noem because of her mismanagement of immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
“I think that what she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying,” Tillis told reporters on Tuesday, saying he hadn’t decided whether to back a push to impeach Noem. “She should be out of a job.”
“I think it should be a management decision,” Tillis said. “She needs to go.”
“I think that what she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying,” Sen. Thom ristiTillis told reporters on Tuesday, saying he hadn’t decided whether to back a push to impeach Noem. “She should be out of a job.”
Murkowski stopped short of demanding that Trump force out Noem. But she did say she was “disappointed” in the DHS secretary and that it was time for Noem to move on.
“I’ve lost confidence in her… We would be better served with new leadership at [the] department… I supported her, I supported the nomination, I had great hopes for her in the department, and I’ve been disappointed,” Murkowski said.
The Republican lawmakers’ comments came after a statement from three members of the House Democratic leadership who said that Noem should be fired or they would launch impeachment proceedings. Even before Pretti’s death, an effort to impeach Noem was building on Capitol Hill with the backing of dozens of Democrats.









