Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026.J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Kristi Noem faced frustration from some Republicans during a Senate oversight hearing Tuesday over how she’s handling her job as secretary of homeland security.
During the nearly five-hour hearing, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) criticized Noem for refusing to take responsibility for the killings of two U.S. citizens, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, by federal agents in Minnesota, and for allegedly stalling investigations into the Department of Homeland Security while spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on agency ads.
“We’re beginning to get the American people to think that deporting people is wrong,” Tillis said about Noem’s job as DHS secretary. “It’s the exact opposite. The way you’re going about deporting them is wrong.”
The probes into both cases are led by Homeland Security Investigations, an agency within the DHS, and the Office of Professional Responsibility, while excluding local authorities. The Justice Department, which would typically be involved, is not investigating the killing of Renée Good but has initiated a civil rights probe into the killing of Alex Pretti.
“One of the reasons why ICE officers are having threats…is because you’ve cast the pall on them by acting like we should investigate things differently,” Tillis told Noem. “Officer-involved shootings have a formula that we should go through every time.”
Tillis later mentioned a letter from the Office of Inspector General, saying “10 different instances under Ms. Noem’s leadership where they’ve been misled and not allowed to pursue investigations.” Last month, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) sent a letter to Noem saying she learned that DHS general counsel told the investigators multiple times that Noem could kill their investigations.
Tillis vowed to put a hold on all “en bloc” nominations, a procedure allowing the Senate to confirm nominees as a group, if he didn’t get a response from Noem to questions he sent a month ago about federal agents in Minneapolis’ use of force. Tillis also criticized DHS for its reliance on administrative warrants to detain citizens.
While Tillis has a long track record of criticizing Noem, including calling for her resignation in January, Kennedy does not.
Kennedy went after Noem for starring in $220 million worth of taxpayer-funded DHS ads.
He suggested that the videos “were effective in [Noem’s] name recognition” rather than promoting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.
Kennedy also cited reports that the department sidestepped competitive bidding rules. One of the largest contracts went to Safe American Media, a company created just days before it won the deal. The company is run by the husband of Noem’s former chief spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, who also worked on ads for Noem during her time in Congress and as governor of South Dakota.
The hearing came as many Republicans urged Democrats to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security, citing the need to strengthen protections against possible retaliatory terror attacks after US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began Saturday.
