Sen. Fetterman joins chorus of Democrats calling for Noem’s removal.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan announced she’s supporting the effort to remove Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
She now joins all six other Pennsylvania Democrats in the U.S. House who had already signed on as co-sponsors of impeachment articles.
The articles were filed earlier this month by Illinois Rep. Robin Kelly, whose district includes parts of Chicago. The city dealt with heavy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol activity last year, including the deployment of a Blackhawk helicopter in a heavily criticized apartment complex raid.
Democratic support for impeaching Noem has gained momentum since the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis Saturday by federal agents. Earlier Tuesday, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the caucus will move forward with impeachment unless Noem resigns or is fired by President Donald Trump.
Democrats do not have the majority necessary to initiate impeachment proceedings without Republican support. The GOP holds a five-seat advantage. The effort would need a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict.
Noem has come under heavy criticism as the head of the agency responsible for immigration enforcement. Last year, ICE detained more than 170 American citizens, killed five people in shootings, and had 32 people die in their custody. Lawsuits have also been filed over ICE’s aggressive deployment of crowd control methods, like the use of tear gas and physical force, against protesters and journalists. Immigration agents have also been photographed pointing firearms at protesters.
Noem was also quick to characterize two citizens killed by federal agents in Minnesota, Pretti and Renee Good, as “domestic terrorist[s]” engaging in violence against officers. She made similar comments within hours after each respective shooting, before any investigations were completed, despite widely-circulated videos appearing to contradict her claims.
Trump reportedly met with Noem and her senior advisor, Corey Lewandowski, for two hours on Monday evening as backlash grew against ICE tactics in Minneapolis and DHS’ characterization of shooting victims as domestic terrorists. According to a CNN report, neither Noem’s nor Lewandowski’s jobs were threatened.
The meeting followed the demotion of Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. He had become the face of some of the agency’s most aggressive crackdowns in Democrat-led cities across the country, like “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago and “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis.
Noem is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March.
As it stands, Pennsylvania’s 10 Republican U.S. House members have been generally supportive of the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration agents in American cities far from the border. But, support has been fraying since the back-to-back shootings in Minneapolis.
Speaking on Newsmax Tuesday, Rep. Dan Meuser (R-09) said, “We’ve had some tragic situations that occurred out in Minneapolis.” But, he also claimed the blame should be on “the fact that Biden let in 20 million illegals” and local Democratic leaders who he says “demonized ICE.”
Several others have grown more cautiously critical.
Shortly before the shooting, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-01) told the New York Times he’d like ICE to show “more compassion and empathy in enforcement.” On Tuesday, he co-authored a bipartisan letter to Trump calling for comprehensive immigration reform, including offering “legal protection to millions of immigrants.”
Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (R-07) and Lloyd Smucker (R-11) have called for investigations into Saturday’s shooting.
In the U.S. Senate, Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman has added himself to the growing chorus calling for Noem’s removal.
“President Trump: I make a direct appeal to immediately fire Secretary Noem,” he said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Americans have died. She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy. DO NOT make the mistake President Biden made for not firing a grossly incompetent DHS Secretary.”
It’s a reversal for Fetterman, who voted to confirm Noem to her position last January and has been one of the staunchest Democratic supporters of the administration’s immigration agenda. He has, however, broken with his party’s calls to block funding for DHS. The move would risk a partial government shutdown, an outcome Fetterman said he wants to avoid.
A spokesperson for Fetterman did not immediately respond to a question about whether he would support Noem’s impeachment.
Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Dave McCormick has also joined a number of moderate Republicans in calling for an investigation into the shooting of Pretti.
