Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, heavily criticized the DHS secretary for her handling of immigration enforcement, using his allotted time for a “performance evaluation,” rather than a line of questioning.
Tillis said “time after time I’ve been disappointed” with Noem’s leadership.
He cited the Biden administration’s record on immigration, saying “a lot of of us are very frustrated with the disaster that President Biden left behind, and a failed DHS.”
“It’s why I’m angry and it’s why I’ve been critical of you, Secretary Noem,” Tillis said. “Because we’re missing an opportunity”
Tillis, who was the first Republican senator to call for Noem to be ousted from her role in the aftermath of the Minnesota shootings, said that “one of the reasons President Trump won a year and a half ago is because people were sick and tired of a Democratic administration’s open border policy.” He said he’s been critical of Noem because “we have limited resources — ICE can’t be everywhere at once.”
“So why am I disappointed with Secretary Noem? Because we’re not going after enough people who did this damage at the expense of running numbers that Stephen Miller wants out of the White House. We just want numbers,” Tillis said. “Because numbers matter, right? No, they don’t matter. Quality matters, not quantity — quality. And what we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem. A disaster.”
Tillis said “what we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained” who turn out to be American citizens. He cited the “culture that’s been created here,” while criticizing the “domestic terrorist” label Noem used after the shootings in Minneapolis.
Tillis also cited a letter from the DHS Officer of Inspector General with 10 instances under Noem’s leadership where investigators said they have been misled and unable to pursue critically important matters.
“That is stonewalling, that’s a failure of leadership, and that is why I’ve called for your resignation,” Tillis said.
Tillis said if he doesn’t get a response from Noem, he’ll put a hold on any en bloc nominations until he does. He added that in two weeks, he’ll deny quorum and markup in as many committees as he can until he gets that response.