Live updates: Kristi Noem testifies before House committee on DHS oversight

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said “mistakes have been made” as federal immigration authorities have sought to carry out the nation’s “largest-ever” deportation operation, a reference to the two U.S. citizens killed by federal police in Minneapolis earlier this year.

“The Trump administration has worked to deport those who don’t have a legal basis in our country. Unfortunately, in the process, some DHS officers, migrants, and protesters have felt threatened. or injured, and in very rare instances, even killed. Mistakes have been made,” Grassley said in his opening remarks.

“Let’s make it clear, one death is too many, but officers should never be threatened or harmed while enforcing our laws. And there is a clear difference between conduct protected by the First Amendment and unlawful obstruction, from my perspective,” Grassley said.

Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot in separate incidents when law enforcement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection took lethal action.

The House Judiciary Committee is taking a break from its hearing with Noem for a vote on the House floor.

Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said he expected the voting process to take approximately 30 minutes, more or less, and that the committee would return “as soon as we can recess.” He noted that “a few more members” of the committee would question Noem, but did not specify who or how many.

Noem slammed Democratic lawmakers for holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security amid the U.S. conflict with Iran.

“It endangers this country when we don’t fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, and I will tell you that it endangers us, because the whole world knows that this Congress is not funding,” Noem said in response to a question about the impacts of the shutdown from Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA).

Funding for DHS lapsed in mid-February after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on Democratic concerns over immigration enforcement. The United States and Israel launched preemptive attacks on Iran over the weekend, while Iran has launched multiple retaliatory attacks, killing six American service members.

“Iran has said that they will retaliate, and we know how they have threatened us, how they threatened us on our homeland, and they’ve threatened our leading officials as well. So those threats are very real and exist, and we are on a tempo that is higher than usual,” Noem said.

Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) erupted at Noem over the Department of Homeland Security’s handling of Hurricane Helene relief in western North Carolina, echoing the frustrations of her upper chamber colleague Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).

“You have been too slow. I have heard this from Republican county commissioners. I have heard this from administrators. I have been in the western part of the state, I know exactly what’s going on, and you have turned a blind eye while you’re busy trying to deport American citizens,” Ross said.

Ross slammed Noem’s leadership guidance over Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, saying western North Carolina residents “have been waiting in limbo for your department to sign off on recovery funding.” Noem deflected the criticism, pointing to failures under former President Joe Biden, when Ross rebuked Noem’s assessment and raised her voice, saying, “Biden showed up.”

Hours after calling Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico to concede the Texas Democratic Senate primary, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) told her constituents that she is back in Washington, D.C., for Noem’s hearing.

“I am back in D.C. to hear from cruel Kristi Noem on why she is complicit in the chaos happening at DHS, vote on a War Powers Resolution to rein Donald Trump in, and vote against a DHS funding bill that does nothing to address the reckless actions we’re seeing from ICE,” Crockett wrote.

She asserted in her X post that “the work continues.”

Talarico received 52.4% of the vote, while Crockett fell behind with 46.2% of the vote.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) blasted Democrats for creating an environment that is “undermining” Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

Roy pointed to quotes from Democratic leaders such as Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) who berated ICE operations under the Trump administration.

“When you have the Minnesota governor calling ICE enforcement the modern-day Gestapo, you have the Minneapolis mayor telling ICE to get the ‘F’ out of Minneapolis, when you have the Illinois governor claiming the United States is essentially becoming Nazi Germany,” Roy said.

“Does that not create the environment that they decry right now? Undermining ICE and endangering citizens, the very citizens you have behind me who expect us to do our job and secure the border and secure our communities,” Roy continued, asking Noem.

Noem agreed with Roy and said she “can’t believe the way that they abuse these law enforcement officers who take an oath to go out and to protect this country and put their lives on the line.”

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) blasted Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) for creating a portal where citizens can upload images and videos of the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“They’re gonna have a portal in New Jersey so that you can, you can report where federal agents are, so you give the criminals that more of a head start and a chance to get away,” Van Drew said during Noem’s hearing.

Noem agreed with Van Drew and said, “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

“We’ve got 1,400 different agreements with local and state law enforcement officers that partner with us under the 287g program, and it helps them financially,” Noem said, as Van Drew then called on his state to cooperate with ICE officers.

Knott used Trump‘s State of the Union strategy on Wednesday when he asked the families of victims of illegal immigrant crimes to stand if they believed Democrats supported them.

“To any of the members of the audience and the angel families, who are here for your own personal tragedy, if you believe that the open border advocates in the Democratic Party care more about you, as opposed to illegal immigrants, I want you to stand up,” Knott said.

When none of the audience members stood up, Knott blasted his Democratic colleagues, who he said were issuing “crocodile tears” for the angel families.

Rep. Brad Knott (R-NC) blasted his Democratic Judiciary Committee colleagues over their comments during Noem’s hearing on Wednesday, calling their sympathy for the victims of illegal immigrant crime “fake.”

“To the angel families, I’m going to apologize for my colleagues. They issue crocodile tears, they issue fake sympathy, and then they continue to defend the open border policies that enable preventable crimes that brought you here today,” Knott said.

Noem is sitting before several members of angel families who lost their loved ones to illegal immigrant crime, including those who died from illicit drugs trafficked over the border and from illegal immigrants behind the wheel of big-rig trucks.

Noem did not give a specific number when Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) asked her if any Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection officers have been fired since the start of her tenure.

Noem said, “There could be,” in response to Swalwell’s question.

“They have that happen once in a while when there is a need for someone to be, for conduct related to enforcement actions. We hold our law enforcement officers accountable and are grateful that they serve, that they put their lives on the line,” Noem said.

Noem told Swalwell she did not know the exact number of ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers who have been disciplined for their actions, but told Swalwell she would get him the number following the hearing.

Noem and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) found common ground on body cameras during a House Judiciary Committee hearing marked by fiery exchanges over immigration enforcement.

Noem agreed with Massie’s assertion that body cameras for law enforcement officers “might just be common sense.” Noem said she is working to get body cameras on all DHS officers, noting that there are about 14,000 body cameras in the field for DHS officers, but they need funding for more. Funding for DHS has been shut down since February.

“I agree with you, our officers, overwhelmingly — we train 130 different federal agencies and law enforcement officers at [Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers] under the Department of Homeland Security — overwhelmingly, they support body cameras, because they give you the full context of the, of the interaction,” Noem said.

Massie told Noem that he has had several conversations with bipartisan sheriffs and law enforcement officers in his district who largely support body cameras.

“Almost unanimously, they support body cameras, and so do the officers and deputies who work for them, because they believe it protects the officers as much as it protects the citizens who may be offending the law in some way and need to be arrested,” Massie said.

After initially dodging questions from Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), Ellison admitted he was misled by individuals tied to the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, acknowledging the people he met with in 2021 ultimately deceived him.

Pressed by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) about the December 2021 meeting, Ellison said the nonprofit group leaders who attended the gathering were dishonest about their activities.

“Let me just be clear — these people were fraudsters,” Ellison said. “They were liars. They lied to me, they lied to courts, they lied to everyone.”

Ellison added that meeting with community groups raising concerns about government programs is routine for his office, saying it was “nothing unusual” for him to hear complaints and offer assistance even though several individuals tied to the meeting were later charged in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case.

House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) blasted Noem over her comments, calling Minneapolis protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists.

“We’re fighting for American citizens, Madam Secretary, because your ICE agents shot them in the face and killed them,” Raskin said, referencing the federal immigration officers who killed Pretti and Good.

Raskin pressed Noem on her immediate reaction to the killings, in which she referred to the two U.S. citizens as domestic terrorists impeding immigration operations. He said he wanted to give Noem “a chance before the entire country to correct your false and defamatory claim,” based on more recent information, asking, “Were Renee good and Alex pretty domestic terrorists?”

“What happened in Minnesota in those two incidents was an absolute tragedy,” Noem said, without retracting her initial statements. “My condolences to their families, because I know that their lives will never be the same after that.”

Noem continued, telling the committee that the DHS investigation into the incidents was still ongoing.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) called immigration training protocols “garbage” during Noem’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

Noem discussed the use of administrative warrants while referencing immigration protocols used when enforcing final removal orders.

“Administrative warrants are the tools that you gave us. Congress gave us that tool in immigration law to use to go and detain individuals who are in this country that have had final removal orders,” Noem said.

“That is garbage law,” Lofgren said.

“The Constitution, Supreme Court backed it up,” Noem responded.

At the Minnesota fraud hearing occurring concurrently with the Homeland Security oversight hearing, House Republicans pressed Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, about a 2021 meeting with individuals later charged in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, questioning what he knew as the investigation unfolded.

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) pointed to what he said was a 54-minute audio recording of a December 2021 meeting in which nonprofit organization leaders complained about increased scrutiny of their operations. “During your meeting, they complained to you about increased scrutiny of their nonprofits, and you told them, ‘Of course, I’m here to help,’” Emmer said.

Emmer also cited a later statement from Ellison’s office saying it had been “deeply involved for two years in holding Feeding Our Future accountable,” arguing that timeline raises questions about Ellison’s awareness of the allegations at the time of the meeting. When asked directly when he learned of the federal investigation, Ellison responded, “Representative, as you know, I have addressed this issue many times,” without providing a specific answer.

The Feeding Our Future case centers on roughly $250 million in federal child nutrition funds prosecutors say were diverted through fraudulent meal sites during the COVID-19 pandemic, with dozens of defendants charged in what authorities have described as one of the largest pandemic-era fraud schemes uncovered in the United States.