House Democratic leaders on Tuesday threatened to begin impeachment proceedings against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem if President Donald Trump does not fire her first.
Noem has faced increased pressure in recent days for her comments in the wake of the shooting of Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen killed by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday.
“The violence unleashed on the American people by the Department of Homeland Security must end forthwith,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement.
“Kristi Noem should be fired immediately, or we will commence impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives,” the statement said.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
In the aftermath of Pretti’s killing, Noem claimed he had been “brandishing” a weapon and that he had responded “violently” to officers’ attempts to disarm him. Those claims were later contradicted by video analysis and analyses from multiple news outlets.
Trump on Tuesday said “no” when a reporter at the White House asked him if Noem would leave her post.
Noem is doing “a very good job,” Trump told reporters before a planned trip to Iowa.
The warning by House Democrats comes as a partial government shutdown looms amid concerns over DHS funding.
“Taxpayer dollars are being weaponized by the Trump administration to kill American citizens, brutalize communities and violently target law-abiding immigrant families. The country is disgusted by what the Department of Homeland Security has done,” the leaders said in their statement.
The House last week passed a more than $1.2 trillion spending package that included funding for DHS and other agencies. But the Senate has only until 12:01 a.m. Saturday to pass the bills and keep the government fully funded.
The killing of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, has prompted outrage among Senate Democrats, who have called for the DHS bill to be stripped from the larger spending package in exchange for their votes.
Democratic support for the spending bills is needed to clear the 60-vote filibuster in the Senate.
“Senate Democrats have made clear we are ready to quickly advance the five appropriations bills separately from the DHS funding bill before the January 30th deadline,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement Monday.
“The responsibility to prevent a partial government shutdown is on Leader Thune and Senate Republicans,” Schumer said. “If [Majority Leader John] Thune puts those five bills on the floor this week, we can pass them right away. If not, Republicans will again be responsible for another government shutdown.”
Trump and the White House this week softened the administration’s stance on Pretti, seemingly walking back earlier statements made by administration officials like Stephen Miller, Trump’s homeland security adviser, who labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist.”
“Nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing on Monday.
Still, tensions remain high after the deaths of Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, another citizen killed by federal agents in Minneapolis this month.
DHS recently launched an immigration enforcement investigation in Minnesota, sending federal agents to the state in response to an ongoing social services fraud scandal and targeting thousands of refugees.
Minnesota state officials and congressional Democrats have sharply condemned the tactics used by DHS and ICE, and some congressional Republicans have also called for increased oversight.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Monday called on the heads of ICE, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to testify before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which he chairs.
He also called for an “independent investigation” into the shooting.
“That should happen immediately. I can’t recall ever hearing a police chief immediately describing the victim as a ‘domestic terrorist’ or a “would-be assassin,'” Paul said in a post to X on Tuesday.
“For calm to be restored, an independent investigation is the least that should be done,” he wrote.
ICE, CPB, and USCIS officials agreed Tuesday to testify at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Feb. 10.