Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is back at it with her blatant ignorance toward the U.S. Constitution.
During a hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Tuesday, Noem proved that she has absolutely no idea what the constitutional right to habeas corpus is.
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, a lawyer who graduated from Northeastern University School of Law, asked Noem to define habeas corpus.
“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” Noem answered.
Hassan interrupted her and offered a correction, noting, “Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people—including American citizens—and hold them indefinitely for no reason.”
She went on to praise habeas corpus as the dividing line between authoritarian states like North Korea and free societies like the United States.
Later in the hearing, Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey asked Noem if she knew how often habeas corpus had been suspended in the past—which she also got wrong—and then asked where habeas corpus is laid out in the Constitution. Noem did not know.
The principle is in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, which reads:
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
Habeas corpus has been a part of the U.S. code of law since the Constitution was ratified 236 years ago in 1789. The principle is one of the cornerstones of U.S. law and is intended as a check on the power of the state.
Recently, habeas corpus has been in the news because the Trump administration has been asserting that immigrants who have been abducted and detained do not have these rights. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, has even floated the idea that the Trump administration is “looking into” suspending the right.
After Noem was confirmed by the Senate in January, she swore an oath to “support and defend” the Constitution. But she has continued to make it clear that she’s disinterested in doing her sworn duty—and doesn’t even understand the Constitution she is tasked with protecting.
Last week, Noem testified before the House Homeland Security Committee, claiming that the Trump administration did not have to follow procedures ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to return the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador to Maryland.
Rather than defending the Constitution, Noem seems more interested in cosplaying for propaganda videos. And when she isn’t engaging in that level of spin, she’s been asking taxpayers to foot the cost for her new jet.
Likely to Noem’s surprise, neither of those things are in the Constitution.
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