Watch Live: Noem testifies at House hearing after grilling from senators

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, argued that Noem must be ousted from her job.

"DHS is supposed to be protecting our residents and upholding constitutional protections but you've turned that on the head," Jayapal said. "You have actually turned the United States government against its own residents and you've had multiple chances to take accountability, to apologize to these folks and others across the country, but you have failed to do it."

The comments came after Jayapal presented four individuals in the audience who she said were detained by ICE "simply for legally protesting or monitoring ICE activity."

Jayapal said "yours is a case of failed leadership, secretary. You need to resign, be fired or be impeached because you don't have the right to lead this nation."

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, asked Noem for an update on body cameras. Massie said body cameras are something that Democrats have demanded, while adding that "it's something that I think might just be common sense."

Noem said DHS is working to implement body cameras for all agents. She said CBP has had cameras on many agents for the last several years, "but they haven't been, many times, supported financially." She said ICE also has body cameras deployed, "but we're not funded for body cameras right now."

"So that's one thing I'd like to ask you all to do," Noem said. "I have said that we will deploy every body camera that we have, and we are doing that. I think we now today maybe have 14,000 body cameras on agents that are out doing enforcement, but clearly we need tens of thousands more. And we need to be able to maintain them."

Noem added that she agrees with Massie, noting that officers "overwhelmingly" support body cameras because "they give you the full context of the interaction."

Massie said he thinks Congress has "allocated enough money" to DHS, which received $165 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. Noem said Congress was "pretty prescriptive" in how the $75 million for ICE within that sum was assigned, pointing to detention centers and contracts, among other things. She argued that body cameras and their maintenance needs to be addressed in funding measures going forward. 

Raskin pressed Noem over her statements accusing Good and Pretti of domestic terrorism, picking up on a line of questioning that many senators pursued during Tuesday's hearing. Raskin asked whether Good and Pretti were domestic terrorists, based on what the DHS secretary knows today.

"What happened in Minnesota in those two incidents was an absolute tragedy," Noem said, while offering condolences to their families.

Raskin repeated his question, to which Noem replied, "there [are] ongoing investigations."

Noem and Raskin repeatedly spoke over each other as Raskin criticized the comments, while Noem criticized Democrats for going after federal agents. 

"You told a lie about them. You said that they were domestic terrorists. Do you regret that?" Raskin asked.

"I offer my condolences to those families," Noem said.

Pressed multiple more times about the domestic terrorism label, Noem reiterated that the investigation is still ongoing.

Noem defended the tactics used by immigration agents to detain individuals, including American citizens.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, said she has concerns about DHS' immigration enforcement operation. She played a series of videos of interactions between American citizens and federal agents, including when ICE agents detained an elderly man and brought him out of his home in underwear and a blanket, and incidents where agents shattered car windows and dragged individuals from their cars. 

Noem responded to Lofgren's questions about agents' training, saying "our officers are all trained for situations where they're interacting with the public and where they're detaining someone or arresting them."

"What I would say is they always go with their presence, is when the enforcement action begins, the officer's presence, and then verbal commands," Noem said. "If an individual doesn't respond to verbal commands, then they go to soft techniques, which you see utilized throughout the country. And our officers follow that protocol and are trained in that protocol."

Noem said officers go through "extensive training" over a period of 56 days.

Noem began her opening statement with an emotional appeal to "angel families," a reference to the loved ones of those who have been killed or victimized by immigrants in the country illegally. Some of the families are seated behind Noem in the hearing room.

Noem said she accepted the job because "this is going to be a difficult job — it's going to be a hard job."

"We're going to have to secure our border and make sure we're going after dangerous criminal illegals and remove them from our country, and everyday we're going to have to make tough decisions to uphold the law, but to make sure that the consequences for breaking the law are put in place as well," Noem said. 

What she wasn't prepared for, Noem said, was the "heartbreaking stories" she's heard from families who have suffered violence at the hands of noncitizens. 

"They never should have been here, and then they perpetuated violent crimes against these people," Noem said. 

The secretary said the reason she does the job everyday "is for that."
"Somebody has to do the right thing and tell the stories of these families and make sure that we don't sit around here and make political hotshots and falsehoods and lies, like I just heard from the ranking member," Noem said. "That instead, we do the right thing to defend these families and remember their children."

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, began his opening statement by highlighting the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis. 

Raskin said not long after Good and Pretti had been shot, Noem launched a "smear campaign" against them with her comments linking their actions to "domestic terrorism."

"You provided no evidence to back up your defamatory lie against either of these American citizens," Raskin said. 

Raskin said "rather than work with state and local authorities to solve these homicides, you barred Minnesota's investigators from the crime scenes."

"You're denying them access to all the evidence that you have about the deaths of their citizens," Raskin said. "It smells like a cover-up, and it makes me wonder who the real domestic terrorists are." 

The Maryland Democrat also scrutinized Noem over a more than $200 million advertisement campaign and pointed to other lavish expenses under her leadership of DHS. 

"Secretary Noem, you're flying high now — maybe even a little bit too close to the sun," Raskin said. "But with all these free planes and houses and pilots, you've traveled a long distance from your actual job, and the things you should be doing as head of Homeland Security."

Raskin said Noem has "turned our government against our people" and "our people against our government."

"But the people are winning today," Raskin said. "We are clearly in the fight of our lives, and we obviously have very serious questions today about what you are turning our government into."

Jordan kicked off his opening statement by comparing the current approach to immigration to the Biden  administration's policy.

"Three years ago, Secretary Mayorkas sat at that table and told this committee, 'the border is secure,'" Jordan said. 

The Ohio Republican outlined a long list of grievances, concluding: "That was how ridiculous everything was in the last administration."

"But here's the good news, Secretary Noem has rescinded the Mayorkas memo, has rescinded the protected areas memo," Jordan said. "Under Secretary Noem, fentanyl coming into the country is down, women and children are safer, and most importantly, under Secretary Noem and President Trump's leadership, the border is now secure." 

Jordan said the DHS secretary has an "amazing record," citing deportation and arrest figures.

The chairman said "there is still one big problem," pointing to sanctuary jurisdiction policies, which limit local cooperation with federal immigration agents. Jordan touted legislation that he said would address the issue. 

Noem arrived in the hearing room, shook hands with some of the committee members and took a seat as photographers snapped photos. 

Chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, then gaveled in the hearing. 

As Noem is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday, including about the Minneapolis immigration crackdown, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is testifying before another committee on Capitol Hill.

The House Oversight Committee is fielding testimony from Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in a hearing about Minnesota fraud.

Ellison testified at a Senate hearing that also featured testimony from the leaders of ICE, CBP and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services last month. That hearing focused on the recent surge of agents to the state, as both sides pointed fingers at the other for mishandling of the situation in Minnesota. 

Much of DHS remains shut down amid a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over how to reform immigration agencies.

In addition to ICE and CBP, DHS also oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and other components. Workers who continue to perform their jobs during the partial shutdown began missing paychecks in recent days. 

During her testimony Tuesday, Noem criticized Democrats for failing to support legislation to fund DHS, calling it "reckless" and "unnecessary."

"It harms the men and women who work at DHS and their families," she said. 

The funding lapse began on Feb. 14. And although Democrats and the White House have been trading proposals for reforms in recent weeks, an imminent breakthrough has appeared far off. 

The House is set to vote later this week on a measure to fund the department as GOP leaders work to put pressure on Democrats. But Democrats haven't expressed willingness to change their position. A similar effort failed in the Senate last week.  

The Trump administration's immigration crackdown has remained funded despite the shutdown, since ICE and CBP received an influx of funds as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. 

Noem accused Senate Democrats of holding the department "hostage," and said critical functions are "strained."

Noem's testimony Wednesday comes after she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, where she ran into intense criticism from Democrats and a pair of Republicans.

While the bulk of GOP senators offered support for the administration's immigration enforcement operation, GOP Sens. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Thom Tillis of North Carolina critiqued the DHS secretary.

Kennedy questioned Noem about the decision to spend millions of dollars on television advertisements that feature her prominently, along with her comments linking Alex Pretti and Renee Good to domestic terrorism. But it was Tillis' exchange with Noem that was the most striking. 

Tillis 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. 

"What we've seen is a disaster under your leadership," he said. Tillis threatened to block the Trump administration's nominees and bring Senate business to a halt until Noem answers his questions and addresses concerns about stonewalling investigations.

Democrats mostly focused on the Minnesota crackdown and the fatal shootings of Pretti and Good. Given multiple opportunities to apologize for her comments about domestic terrorism shortly after their deaths, Noem declined. She expressed her condolences for their families and pledged to "continue everyday to get up and to work hard to give everybody factual information."