Thom Tillis slams Kristi Noem for shooting her untrained puppy: ‘It distresses me’

WASHINGTON, DC: Republican Sen. Thom Tillis publicly criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, March 3, invoking a controversial story from her memoir to question her judgment.

Tillis referenced Noem’s 2024 book 'No Going Back,' in which she recounted fatally shooting her young hunting puppy, and argued that the episode raised broader concerns about her leadership at the Department of Homeland Security and federal immigration operations.

Tillis confronts Noem over shooting of untrained puppy

At the March 3 committee hearing, Tillis brought up a passage from Noem’s book that drew widespread attention when it was published.

“Secretary, I read your book last week, and, honestly, some of the parts impressed me, but some of it distresses me,” Tillis said.

In the memoir, Noem wrote about fatally shooting her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket. She described the dog as “untrainable” and “less than worthless” as a hunting companion.

Noem wrote that she had tried to train the puppy using an electric collar and ultimately decided to put Cricket down after the dog attacked a neighbor’s chickens. The memoir also recounts that she put down a male goat on her family’s farm, describing the animal as ‘nasty and mean’ because it had not been castrated.

During the hearing, Tillis directly referenced the anecdotes, saying, “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.”

He went on to criticize Noem’s decision to frame the episode as a lesson in leadership. Tillis suggested that presenting such farm decisions as examples of making “tough decisions” reflected troubling judgment.

Tillis ties memoir controversy to DHS leadership concerns

Tillis expanded his criticism beyond the memoir, tying the farm stories to Noem’s leadership at DHS. He questioned her handling of immigration enforcement operations, including a federal action in Minneapolis known as 'Operation Metro Surge.'

At the hearing, Tillis said that two US citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 — were killed during the operation by federal agents during the operation. He argued that the decision-making described in Noem’s book mirrored what he called “bad decisions made in the heat of the moment.”

“You are a farmer. You don’t castrate a goat; they behave badly. You should have probably done that before,” Tillis said.

The North Carolina Republican, who is retiring when his Senate term ends in January, also accused Noem of delaying federal emergency funding. He warned he would block President Donald Trump’s Senate nominees until he received answers about immigration operations in his state.

In closing, Tillis delivered a pointed assessment: “I’m giving you a performance evaluation here ... Time after time after time, I’ve been disappointed ... What we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership."