Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testifies before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, March 4, 2026. The hearing was the second in as many days for Noem to face questions about her department’s handling of immigration enforcement. (Photo: Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives spent Wednesday’s oversight hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sharply criticizing local governments for policies limiting cooperation on immigration, while Democrats blasted her leadership of the department, saying it led to the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
House Republicans were friendlier toward Noem than GOP senators who was pressed and sometimes shouted at on Tuesday for hastily labeling the people killed in Minneapolis – Renee Good, a poet and mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse – as domestic terrorists. Senators were also critical of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s sluggish responses.
During a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, blamed the Biden administration for immigration policies that Jordan said caused the crisis and sharply criticized local jurisdictions that refuse to support the federal government enforce immigration laws, often referred to as sanctuary cities.
He called it “the stupidest policy I’ve ever heard” and vowed that Congress would ban it.
During the nearly six-hour hearing, Noem said she agreed and supported Republican efforts to advance legislation to prevent states and local governments from resisting immigration enforcement.
“Illegal aliens coming to this country know where they can go and where elected officials will protect them,” she said.
Republicans also criticized Democrats for refusing to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2026 unless there are changes in immigration enforcement tactics. Democrats took a tough stance on the issue after Pretti’s death in delayed January.
The House voted on Wednesday 211-209 for an advance payment to the DHS financial account. The final vote is expected on Thursday.
“Blankie” flew away
The top Democrat on the panel, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, took on a litany of Noem-related issues, starting with report from the Wall Street Journal. which detailed how special government employee and top Noem adviser Corey Lewandowski fired a U.S. Coast Guard pilot after Noem’s blanket was left behind on a previous flight.
According to WSJ reporting, the pilot had to be rehired because no one else could fly the plane.
“Apparently when your special blanket, blanket, was left on one of the government jets and not transported to a new one, your special government employee, Corey Lewandowski, chivalrously stepped forward to relieve the pilot – in the air,” Raskin said. “But then he had to be rehired immediately since there was no one else to take you both for the rest of the trip home.”
Noem denied the story.
Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz pressed Noem numerous media reports that she is currently in a romantic relationship with Lewandowski and expressed concerns about how much authority Lewandowski has in the agency.
“You come out and attack conservative women and say we’re either stupid or sluts,” Noem said, but didn’t answer if she was having an affair.
Moskowitz also said he bought Noem a “new Coast Guard blanket” and showed off a wrapped blanket with the Coast Guard emblem.
Problems with FEMA
As he did during Tuesday’s Senate hearing, Noem was again criticized by a North Carolina lawmaker over delays in FEMA aid, and on Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Deborah K. Ross took over the role.
Ross said thousands of western North Carolinians are still waiting for Noem to approve additional FEMA funding that Congress provided in a separate 2024 Hurricane Helene relief funding bill.
“These delays in the disbursement of desperately needed recovery funds are simply unacceptable, and you heard that from my Republican Senator (Thom) Tillis yesterday,” Ross said.
Ross sharply criticized Noem for introducing a rule requiring her to first approve any FEMA contract costing more than $100,000.
Ross said the policy “contributed to many of these delays by creating a bottleneck and blocking the return of hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster relief funds that directly separate North Carolinians from this aid.”
Noem blamed former President Joe Biden for failing to send the state disaster relief money, saying he “failed North Carolina” and that the state received billions more under the Trump administration.
“Because we misappropriated the money!” Ross shouted.
In delayed December 2024, Congress passed a separate disaster relief package, which Biden signed into law in the final month of his term.
Questions from Minneapolis
Raskin pressed Noem to label Good and Pretti, both 37, who were shot and killed by federal immigration agents, as domestic terrorists.
“I want to give you an opportunity before the entire country to correct your false and defamatory claim based on what you know today, Madam Secretary, were Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists?” Raskin asked.
Noem did not respond to Raskin’s repeated questions about whether she believed Good and Pretti were domestic terrorists, but stated that “what happened in Minnesota during these two incidents was an absolute tragedy.”
