Kristi Noem Heckled During Senate Hearing as Tensions Flare Over ICE Conduct

Moments before Noem's opening statement, a protester identifying as a former FEMA employee was tackled and removed from the hearing room after demanding the abolition of ICE and accusing the DHS Secretary of disgracing her agency. Additional protesters confronted her upon arrival, calling on her to resign. Noem fired back by accusing Senate Democrats of holding DHS "hostage" through a partial shutdown now entering its third week. The hearing turned combative as Ranking Member Dick Durbin and Sen. Amy Klobuchar clashed with Noem over her labeling of slain Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti as "domestic terrorists." ICE and CBP leaders had previously testified under oath that no one provided Noem with information supporting that characterization. Noem attempted to walk back her language, claiming she never directly called Pretti a domestic terrorist. Even Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has publicly called for Noem's firing over the Minneapolis failures. With DHS funding stalled, an ICE whistleblower alleging the agency lied to Congress, and federal investigations into officer conduct underway, Noem's tenure faces its most serious test yet.