John Fetterman presses Trump to remove DHS Secretary Noem following fatal Minneapolis shootings

WASHINGTON, DC: Democratic Sen John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, January 27, called on President Donald Trump to fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the fatal shooting of a second protester in Minneapolis, escalating Democratic pressure on the administration.

“President Trump: I make a direct appeal to immediately fire Secretary Noem. Americans have died,” Fetterman said in a statement. “She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy.”

John Fetterman labels Kristi Noem as 'a grossly incompetent DHS secretary'

Fetterman warned that Trump risked repeating what he described as a key mistake of former President Joe Biden, who kept then–Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the job despite sustained Republican criticism.

“DO NOT make the mistake President Biden made for not firing a grossly incompetent DHS secretary,” Fetterman said.

While the Pennsylvania Democrat on Monday urged federal authorities to halt the Minneapolis immigration enforcement effort known as 'Operation Metro Surge', he said that he would not vote to block Department of Homeland Security funding ahead of a looming government shutdown deadline later this week.

John Fetterman calls to halt Minneapolis operation 

Fetterman expressed grief over the deaths of two protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed by federal officers during the operation.

“Good and Pretti should still be alive. My family grieves for theirs,” he said. “The operation in Minneapolis should stand down and immediately end,” Fetterman added.

 “It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit,” he continued.

Democrats push for resignation and impeachment

Fetterman’s comments came as several Democrats demanded Noem’s resignation or impeachment after she described Pretti, an ICU nurse, as a “domestic t*******t,” despite no evidence supporting the claim.

Sen Ruben Gallego said Noem should be removed from office, either by resignation or impeachment “She lied about a citizen to justify his murder. And that is not leadership,” Gallego said in an interview with MS NOW. “The president should ask for her resignation. But if not, I do think the House should impeach.”

White House distances itself from Kristi Noem's remarks

The White House has sought to distance Trump from Noem’s rhetoric.

Asked on Monday whether the president agreed with her characterization of Pretti, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “I have not heard the president characterize Mr Pretti in that way.”

Noem is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3. Sen Peter Welch, a member of the committee, said on Monday that the DHS secretary’s leadership has become untenable.

“Noem’s got to go,” Welch said in an MS NOW interview.

“We have the head of this department who spends a lot of her time in self-promotion, the $200 million video shoot at Mount Rushmore, and then, when there is a serious situation involving the death of two Minnesota citizens, she calls them domestic t********s.”