DHS Secy Kristi Noem struggles to answer habeas corpus question in embarrassing Senate hearing exchange

WASHINGTON, DC: Things got real tense during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, May 20, when Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) grilled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over the potential suspension of habeas corpus under a second Donald Trump term.

In a nutshell, habeas corpus is the foundational right that keeps people from being tossed into prison without a reason.

Maggie Hassan and Kristi Noem have heated exchange over habeas corpus

It began when Maggie Hassan asked Kristi Noem point-blank, “So, Secretary Noem, what is habeas corpus?”

Noem responded, “Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their right to—” before Hassan cut her off with a correction.

“Let me stop you, ma’am,” Hassan jumped in. “Habeas corpus, excuse me, that’s, that’s incorrect.” 

Noem noted, “President Lincoln used it,” but Hassan came back with the real civics lesson.

“Excuse me, habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people,” she explained. "If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason. Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea."

“As a Senator from the ‘Live Free or Die’ state, this matters a lot to me, and my constituents, and to all Americans,” Hassan insisted. “So, Secretary Noem, do you support the core protection that habeas corpus provides, that the government must provide a public reason in order to detain and imprison someone?”

Noem replied, “Yeah, I support habeas corpus. I also recognize that the President of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not. Let us be clear, though, that this President—”

Hassan cut her off once again. “It has never been done without approval of Congress. Even Abraham Lincoln got retroactive approval from Congress," she emphasized. 

Concerns about the Trump administration following court orders

Maggie Hassan asked whether the Donald Trump administration would comply with court orders if a suspension of habeas corpus were to happen. To which, Kristi Noem replied, “The Trump administration follows all court orders and will continue to do so.”

But Hassan wasn’t buying it. She pointed to recent court rulings that ordered the return of deported migrants who had been imprisoned in El Salvador without due process, Mediaite reported.

This back and forth ties back to top Trump aide Stephen Miller. According to The Hill, Miller has floated the idea of suspending habeas corpus as a way to fast-track mass deportations, raising plenty of eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) took the baton from Hassan and asked Noem whether she knew what article of the Constitution contains the habeas corpus clause.

“No, I do not, sir,” Noem admitted.

Kim said it was Article One and then asked, “Can you confirm to us that you understand that any suspension of habeas corpus requires an act of Congress?”

Noem correctly pointed to historical precedent. She mentioned that Abraham Lincoln had suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. “President Lincoln executed habeas corpus in the past with retroactive action by Congress. I believe that any president that was able to do that in the past, it should be afforded to our current day president,” she said.

But Kim reminded her that courts had ruled against Lincoln at the time, and that the writ has only been suspended with Congress’s green light since then, not just a presidential decree, NBC News reported. 

No discussions with Donald Trump as yet

To wrap things up, Kim asked Noem if she had personally talked to Stephen Miller about suspending habeas corpus. She said she hadn't had any conversation with Miller or Trump. 

"This president has never said he’s going to do this. He’s never communicated to me or his administration that they’re going to consider suspending habeas corpus. But I do think the Constitution allows them the right to consider it," Noem said.