Key Points – Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing significant criticism, including a direct call for her resignation from Representative Delia Ramirez (D-IL) during a House committee hearing this week.
-Ramirez accused Noem of multiple legal and ethical violations, such as illegally impounding funds, closing civil rights offices, and corruptly benefiting private prison donors.
-Separately, reports indicate Noem’s DHS is reviewing a pitch for a reality TV show where immigrants would compete for citizenship.
-Additionally, Noem has requested a new $50 million Gulfstream jet from the Coast Guard budget, despite DHS already possessing one for her travel.
Kristi Noem in Trouble?
Kristi Noem, then the governor of South Dakota, received a torrent of bad press last year after she admitted, in her memoir, that she had once shot and killed her own dog.
However, that wasn’t the end of Noem’s prominence in MAGA world, and after Donald Trump won the 2024 election, she was nominated and confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Since taking on the new position, Noem has been frequently assailed by anti-Trump types as “ICE Barbie,” thanks to her habit of touring prisons and other ICE facilities while wearing full glam.
Now, one member of Congress is calling on Noem to resign, and made the demand right to her face during a committee hearing.
“You Are Not Fit to Hold the Office”
The call came from Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-IL), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, when Noem was testifying in a hearing that was ostensibly about the budget for the department.
“Since you have been Secretary, you have repeatedly disregarded the law. You have illegally impounded funds that Congress appropriated, and your branch of government must implement pursuant to the law,” Ramirez said during the committee hearing, according to a transcript on her website.
“You closed offices established in law, including the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman.”
Ramirez also said that Noem had “obstructed and roughed up Members of this committee,” about an incident this week in which three Democratic members of Congress, Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver, visited a detention facility in New Jersey. Some Republicans in Congress have called for those members of the House to be censured.
“You redirected funds to terrorize our communities, create taxpayer-funded political propaganda campaigns, and hold sick, disrespectful press conferences in my state, where let me be clear, you are not welcome,” Ramirez went on to say in the statement.
‘You corruptly used emergency authority to avoid procurement to make Trump’s private prison donors richer by directing $45 billion to them for expanded ICE detention centers.”
She went on to call directly for Noem to resign.
“Your department is out of control, and as their leader, YOU are responsible,” she said. “YOU have betrayed the sacred fundamentals of your oath; YOU are not fit to hold the office, and I, again, – to your face – demand your resignation and place that request on the record.”
The DHS Reality Show
Also, this week, Noem was in the news for another proposal.
The Daily Mail reported Thursday that Noem’s department is pushing for a reality show, which would entail “pitting immigrants against each other for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship.” The newspaper got hold of the 35-page program pitch for the show, which was put together by Rob Worsoff, who worked on Duck Dynasty and Millionaire Matchmaker.
Worsoff, per the report, was born in Canada.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the press that the department was reviewing the pitch, but that Noem herself had not yet been briefed on it. But McLaughlin did call the proposal “a good idea.”
A New Jet?
Donald Trump’s new Air Force One from Qatar isn’t the only government plane in the news.
Per The Hill, Noem has requested $50 million for a new jet for use by DHS, in a last-minute addition to the Coast Guard’s budget.
“I was horrified last Friday when we received a last-minute addition to your spend plan for fiscal ’25, a new $50 million Gulfstream 5 for Secretary Noem’s personal travel coming from the Coast Guard budget. She already has a Gulfstream 5, by the way, this is a new one,” Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) said of the jet request, as quoted by The Hill.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
