At DHS hearing, Sen. Thom Tillis accuses Kristi Noem of violating the law, says she 'failed at FEMA'

WASHINGTON — Sen. Thom Tillis didn’t mince words on Tuesday morning as he called, again, for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s resignation and threatened to block nominations and ensure bills her department needs do not reach the floor.

He also alleged she was violating the law over funding Helene relief to western North Carolina.

Noem appeared before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Tuesday morning to answer various questions from its members.

Senators focused their questions on immigration enforcement, the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and the detainments of U.S. citizens mistaken for undocumented immigrants.

When the committee turned to Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, North Carolina, for his turn to question Noem, it was already clear from his facial expressions he was angry.

And part of that frustration stemmed from an unanswered four-page letter Tillis sent, last month, to Noem, asking for detailed information about a Department of Homeland Security mission, known as Operation Charlotte’s Web, that targeted immigrants in Charlotte last November.

But Tillis didn’t start there.

And in 10 minutes, he covered a lot of ground criticizing her oversight on immigration enforcement and emergency relief funding to western North Carolina and even shooting her puppy.

Immigration enforcement

Tillis told Noem that one of the reasons President Donald Trump was reelected in 2024 was because people were “sick and tired” of open border policies.

When Trump was first elected, a Meredith Poll, found that 85% of the North Carolinians asked believed that immigration officials should be “arresting undocumented immigrants with criminal records or who have committed crimes.”

“A lot of us are very frustrated with the disaster that President Biden left behind and a failed DHS,” Tillis said. “It’s why I’m angry, and it’s why I’ve been critical of you, Secretary Noem, because we’re missing an opportunity.”

Tillis reminded Noem of The New York Times report that Stephen Miller, a Trump adviser overseeing his immigration policy, called for 3,000 ICE arrests daily.

“Numbers matter, right?” Tillis asked, before answering his own question. “No, they don’t matter. Quality matters. Not quantity. Quality. And what we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Miss Noem. What we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained that turn out are American citizens. I could talk about the culture that’s been created with Stephen Miller aiding and abetting.”

Tillis has not hidden his distaste for Miller, who he has called incompetent and an amatuer.

ICE shootings in Minneapolis

Tillis then turned his attention to the shootings of Good and Pretti.

In January, both Good and Pretti were shot and killed by immigration agents. Pretti was shot multiple times at close range as he tried to help a woman who had been pushed to the ground. Pretti had a registered gun in his possession but never displayed it.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Noem refused to walk back a statement that Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse, was “a domestic terrorist.”

“Why can’t we just say we made a mistake,” Tillis asked. “I believe the president recognized that you weren’t getting it done in Minneapolis ... We’re beginning to get the American people to think that deporting people is wrong. It’s the exact opposite.”

In January, Quinnipiac University polled Americans and found that 53% did not find the shooting justified and 57% disapprove of how ICE is handling immigration enforcement.

Tillis added that Noem and her agency are wrong in the way they are going about deporting people.

“The fact that you can’t admit to a mistake which looks like, under investigation, is going to prove that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and in the back. Law enforcement needs to learn from that. You don’t protect them by not looking after the facts.”

Tillis said the FBI needs to be investigating what happened, and every law enforcement in that jurisdiction should be invited to the investigation so they’re not mired in what DHS did.

“One of the reasons why ICE officers are having threats — and damn the people that threaten ICE officers, because so many of them are doing a good job — is because you’ve cast a pall on them by acting like we should investigate things differently,” Tillis said. “Officer-involved shootings have a formula that we should go through every time, and we’re not going through that formula.”

Tillis said Noem should support officers by admitting mistakes, holding them accountable and correcting it, not walking away like it never happened.

Charlotte’s Web

North Carolina has not been immune to immigration operations either, and Tillis has been outspoken that it wasn’t warranted.

Several news outlets reported that DHS’ work in Charlotte led to more than 400 people, including U.S. citizens, being detained, and for that reason, Tillis wanted answers.

In his letter to Noem, Tillis wrote: “The operation resulted in the apprehension of several criminal illegal aliens with extensive criminal records, an outcome I applaud. At the same time, multiple public reports allege that U.S. citizens were detained, subject to force, and experienced damage to personal property. I seek clarification as to whether these reports are merely disingenuous accounts from partisans who do not share our commitment to a secure border, or if they reflect substantiated incidents.”

Tillis, with a raised voice, told Noem on Tuesday that he expected answers to the questions in his letter.

“I requested it a month ago,” Tillis said. “All I asked for, if it had to be anonymized, was information so I could determine if your hit rate is right.”

Tillis said he wanted to find more dangerous people who were in the country without permission, and fewer U.S. citizens.

Tillis told her to get answers to him by the end of the day, or he would put a hold on nominations to her department, a tactic senators can use to get what they need from the administration.

Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from North Carolina, used this tactic to get Noem to release Helene recovery funding she was holding up but had already been earmarked by Congress.

But Tillis took it a step further and told her that if she fails to deliver within two weeks, he will deny quorums or mark-ups in as many committees overseeing DHS until he can get answers from her.

Hurricane Helene and federal funding

Tillis also let it be known he joined Budd in his frustration with Noem over FEMA reimbursements to North Carolina.

“I want to talk a minute about FEMA,” Tillis said. “You have a policy right now that anything over $100,000 has to go through your desk for approval.”

Budd rarely falls out of line with the Trump administration, but reached a breaking point with Noem over the summer when she failed to release funding already earmarked by Congress to western North Carolina.

In October 2024, Helene made landfall as a Category 4 Hurricane in Florida before tearing up the East Coast. Its aftermath caused widespread flash flooding across western North Carolina and led to at least 108 deaths.

Tillis, on Tuesday, showed Noem a bar graph, pointing out the difference between “competent” and “incompetent” FEMA leadership and told her he believes “she’s incapable” of competent FEMA leadership.

“People are hurting in western North Carolina from the most significant storm they’ve ever experienced,” Tillis said.

He asked why she would even have a policy that she personally needs to review reimbursements over $100,000.

She tried to answer, but he denied her the ability.

“No, I will hold the clock until I finish,” he said.

Senators are given a set amount of time to question witnesses and their answers eat into that time. A senator can either use the entire time to speak or allow the witness to answer questions. Often witnesses are cut off so the senator can get through their questions.

Tillis said his office is being contacted by North Carolina leadership and fiscal research trying to figure out what Noem is doing.

“You have failed at FEMA,” he told her. “The Homeland Security Act of 2002 expressly prohibits the secretary of Homeland Security from restricting or diverting FEMA resources from the agency’s mission. Based on your disaster response ... I have reason to believe that you’re violating the law, either knowingly or unknowingly.”

He told Noem he wants submitted for the record what the total amount of reimbursements from DHS that awaiting final approval.

Not long after the hearing, Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat from North Carolina, posted on social media that she doesn’t always agree with Tillis, but Noem “has been a disaster for North Carolina.”

She then added, “See you tomorrow, Secretary Noem.”

Noem is set to testify Wednesday before the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Noem shot, killed a dogs and a goat

Tillis is a fervent reader and a dog lover. Two things that did not bode well for Noem while he was angry.

Tillis told Noem he took the time to read her book last week, where she admits to shooting a 14-month-old puppy, named Cricket, and a goat.

“I train dogs,” Tillis said. “And you are a farmer. You should know better.”

He said that a farmer would know better than taking a 14-month-old puppy out pheasant hunting.

“You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time in training,” Tillis said. “And then you had the audacity to go into a book and say it’s a leadership lesson about tough choices.”

He also chastised her for shooting a misbehaved goat.

Tillis added he had a point in bringing this up.

“Those are bad decisions made in the heat of the moment, not unlike what happened up in Minneapolis,” Tillis said. “We’re an exceptional nation, and one of the reasons we’re exceptional is we expect exceptional leadership, and you’ve demonstrated anything but that in the time that I’ve seen you responding to the emergency in North Carolina and across the southeast and acknowledging mistakes are made and speaking too soon for the expedient of social media or whatever it is.”

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