Noem visits the Senate
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem took time off from her look-at-me tour to give the Senate a progress report on the doings of Trump’s state security forces. She appeared before the US Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions about her job performance.
It’s politics. So it would surprise no one if a Republican appointee took some heat from Democratic Senators. However, in a man-bites-dog story, Noem faced criticism, scorn, disbelief, and calls to resign from her nominal teammates.
Trump is reputed to rule his Party with an iron fist. But it seems not all Republicans got the memo. Instead of fluffing the Secretary’s ego, some of the Committee’s GOPers let her have it with both barrels. Here are two who had issues with Noem’s honesty, bloodlust, leadership, and competence.
John Kennedy
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), a bayou, good old boy (with a UV law degree and a fancy Oxford University education), wondered if Noem is a big old liar. He wanted to know if Kristi stood by her claims that the American civilians gunned down by ICE were domestic terrorists. Kennedy asked her,
"I believe at the time you said these were acts of domestic terrorism, is that right?"
Noem responded with some prepared nonsense about ‘fog of war’ difficulties.
"Sir, in answer to questions at the press conference that afternoon, it was that it appeared to be. And as I've said previously in this hearing, is that we're getting information from a chaotic scene on the ground and relaying information to the American people."
We live in an age of instant gratification. But reasonable people would prefer to be told the facts of a matter were forthcoming — rather than being told guesses that conveniently supported DHS’s homicidal response to protests.
Kennedy dug in and asked Noem if she was regurgitating an expedient position dreamt up by Trump’s eminence grise. He asked:
"What got my attention was that you, you blame those statements [alluding to domestic terrorism] on Mr. Stephen Miller at the White House. Did you not?"
Noem bobbed and weaved. She implied her supposed words were a chimera invented by “a news article with no sources.” However, we should note that she is under oath. And wonder if her fear of perjury charges led to her not actually denying that she said “those statements.”
Kennedy pressed the Miller angle. Noem admitted they had worked together. However, she kept implying the newspaper had made up her words, while again not denying on the record that she had said them. The back and forth ended thus:
Kennedy: "Are you denying that you said that?"
Noem: "Sir, I'm not going to speak to that situation that is relayed on anonymous sources that no one has heard me say that."
“No one has heard me say that” is not: ‘I didn’t say that.’ Kennedy, nobody’s fool despite the folksy ‘aw shucks’ persona, jabbed his finger at the slippery customer and stated what everyone knew was the truth. That Noem was lying like a professional. In his words:
"It was you! They're quoting you on the record, saying it's Stephen's fault."
Thom Tillis
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) voiced his concerns. He took Noem to task for her handling of FEMA disaster relief funding. He questioned her pitiless immigration policies that have left two Americans dead. And then he stated that Noem's leadership troubled him.
To illustrate, he turned to Noem’s infamous confession that she has snuffed out the family pet.
"Secretary, I read your book last week. And honestly, some of the parts of it impressed me, but some of it distresses me. And I'll give you a good example of one that does: The passage where you talk about killing a dog that was 14 months old. I train dogs, all right? And you are a farmer. You should know better."
Tillis then told Noem that, while she viewed canicide as proof of leadership ability, it wasn’t. Instead, he explained that it showed Noem’s confidence in her skills was misplaced. He added that the dog died because Kristi had no clue how to do the right thing, even as she boasted that she did.
"You should know that if you're going out to a hunting lodge and you're putting pheasants out and you're putting dogs out — you don't take a puppy out there. A 14-month-old dog is basically a teenager in dog years.
You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time and training, and then you had the audacity to go into a book and say it's a leadership lesson about tough choices."
Tillis added that Noem’s boast about killing a goat confirmed she was out of her depth and sinking fast. He then connected Noem’s inability to make good decisions about animals to her fumbling in her current job. And he ripped her for lusting after social media fame rather than adhering to professional standards.
“But my point is, those are bad decisions made in the heat of the moment, not unlike what happened up in Minneapolis. I expect — we're an exceptional nation — and one of the reasons we're exceptional is we expect exceptional leadership and you've demonstrated anything but that in the time that I've seen you responding to the emergency in North Carolina and across the Southeast and acknowledging when mistakes are made and speaking too soon for the expediate of social media or whatever it is."
Thom ended by saying that, unless Noem stopped picking on innocent American protestors and instead focused on immigration issues, he would stall on the Administration’s nominees. He told the Secretary to get back to him within two weeks.
The wrap-up
Tillis has announced he is not running for reelection in 2026, so he’s lobbying brick bats while heading for the door. I don’t know what Kennedy’s plans are for when his current term ends in 2028. But he has obviously decided there is little downside to taking shots at a Trump nominee.
Whether this decision is a symptom of a larger movement away from MAGA, I cannot say. But it does show that, at least when it comes to Trump’s people, some Senators have discovered they have independent power and authority.
