When Your Own Agencies Won't Back You
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's tenure a "disaster" during her Senate Judiciary Committee testimony on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, a bipartisan verdict on a month-long departmental shutdown, a terrorism accusation her own investigators contradicted, and a $143 million advertising contract awarded to a company formed 11 days before selection.
The hearing exposed not just one cabinet official's failures, but a Department of Homeland Security where institutional guardrails have collapsed. Noem's agencies publicly contradict her. Her oversight investigators debunk her narratives. And a suspicious contract funnels millions through a newly formed company to a firm led by the husband of her former top spokeswoman, while Noem herself appears in $220 million worth of government-funded advertisements urging illegal immigrants to self-deport.
The most striking system failure came in January 2026, when CBP officers shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Noem immediately labeled Pretti a "domestic terrorist." An ICE officer had killed Renee Macklin Good in the same city earlier that month, and Noem applied the same label to Good.
Then her own department contradicted her. An initial report in late January from CBP's oversight arm contradicted the narrative of Pretti's death. When the heads of ICE, CBP, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services testified before the House and Senate, they declined to back Noem's characterization. This wasn't dissent, it was institutional self-preservation when leadership becomes liability.
The Language of Evasion
Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont pressed Noem multiple times to apologize for calling Pretti and Good "domestic terrorists." She wouldn't.
Instead, Noem parsed her language with lawyerly precision: "I did not call Pretti a 'domestic terrorist' but rather said 'it appeared to be an incident of domestic terrorism.'" She offered condolences to the families but refused to retract the characterization that her own investigators had debunked.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar stated that Alex Pretti's parents said calling him a "domestic terrorist" was one of the most hurtful things imaginable. Legal experts told NPR that the activities the government claims amount to obstruction, such as observing and filming immigration officers, are constitutionally protected. About 3,000 federal officers were deployed in Minnesota for immigration enforcement before a recent drawdown, creating what sources described as an atmosphere of intense fear and chaos in the state. That context explains why observers were filming. It was constitutionally protected documentation of a massive federal operation.
Noem's refusal to apologize reveals a deeper institutional problem: when a department can't distinguish observation from terrorism, and when its leader won't correct the record even after her own agencies contradict her, the system itself has become the threat.
Following the Money
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana zeroed in on a different system failure: DHS awarded a $143 million contract to Safe America Media, which subcontracted to the Strategy Group. Safe America Media was formed 11 days before being selected for the contract, Kennedy noted during the hearing.
The Strategy Group is led by the husband of Tricia McLaughlin, the former top spokeswoman for DHS. Corey Lewandowski, a top adviser to Noem, has worked with the Strategy Group, per ProPublica reporting.
Noem said $220 million in DHS funding was spent on advertisements urging illegal immigrants to self-depart, and that President Trump approved the spending ahead of time. She appeared prominently in the advertisements, which were slated to run in March 2026. When Kennedy asked about the contract selection process, Noem denied being part of the decision and said career DHS employees were involved. When asked about Lewandowski's compensation from Safe America or the Strategy Group, Noem said she could ask her special government adviser.
The contradiction reveals a system where accountability is deliberately obscured. Noem claims career employees made the decision while simultaneously saying Trump pre-approved the $220 million spending. Either the Secretary controls major spending decisions or she doesn't. Either she knows whether her top adviser is being compensated by contractors or she doesn't. The evasions suggest she knows the answers would be damaging.
A Department in Paralysis
All of this unfolded while the Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for nearly a month due to lawmakers failing to negotiate a budget deal. The shutdown paralyzed operations even as 650 DHS agents remained deployed in Minnesota, according to Noem's testimony.
The bipartisan criticism during the hearing reflected recognition that institutional damage had reached a critical threshold. Tillis, a Republican, calling the tenure a "disaster" signaled that this wasn't partisan theater, it was acknowledgment that basic departmental functions had broken down.
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker argued that Noem should resign or be removed from her role. The call wasn't just about policy disagreement. It reflected the reality that when a cabinet secretary's own agencies won't support her public statements, when oversight investigators contradict her narratives, and when she can't or won't explain how millions flow to political allies through newly formed companies, the institutional credibility necessary to lead a major department no longer exists.
What Remains
The advertisements featuring Noem are scheduled to run this month. The 650 agents remain in Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security remains shuttered. And in Minneapolis, two families still haven't received an apology for hearing their dead relatives labeled "domestic terrorists" by the nation's top homeland security official, a characterization her own department contradicted, but which she refuses to retract.