Updated March 3, 2026 at 5:15 PM EST
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified before members of the Senate on Tuesday amid a pause in funding to her agency and increased bipartisan scrutiny of her leadership.
The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for nearly a month after lawmakers failed to negotiate a budget deal to fund the agency and agree on changes to how immigration officers operate.
Noem told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee how the DHS shutdown is affecting regular Americans, including making air travel more difficult.
"Senate Democrats who have chosen not to fund the department and have held this department hostage," she said in her opening remarks. "As a result, critical national security missions, including border security, immigration enforcement, aviation security, disaster response, cyber security and the protection of critical infrastructure are all being strained," she said, adding that the agency is also struggling to prepare for World Cup security.
The hearing was broader than the partial shutdown, though. Its focus was on how Noem has been pursuing President Trump's mass deportation efforts in his second term. DHS is the agency that oversees both Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Here were some key moments:
1. Minneapolis stayed front of mind
Republicans called for the hearing just days after CBP officers shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January. Pretti was the second U.S. citizen killed by federal immigration officers in the city after Renee Macklin Good's death at the hands of an ICE officer earlier in the month. Noem drew bipartisan scrutiny for labeling Good and Pretti "domestic terrorists" shortly after their deaths.
Other Republicans also denounced Noem's labeling of Pretti as a domestic terrorist in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
When asked by Sen. Dick Durbin, the panel's top Democrat, about what information led to those statements, Noem said it came from reports from agents on the ground during a chaotic moment.
"And you believe calling victims of that violence domestic terrorists as a way to calm the scene?" Durbin asked her.
"These violent terrorists have put them in a situation where – it's unprecedented what these agents have faced," Noem responded, before admitting there's always "room for improvement" in how to address a situation.
An initial report in late January from the oversight arm of CBP contradicted the narrative of Pretti's death. And last month, the heads of ICE, CBP and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, another agency within DHS, also testified before the House and Senate and declined to back Noem's narrative about Pretti's death.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also called the deaths lamentable but said officers should not have been threatened.
"Let me be clear, one death is too many. But officers should never be threatened or harmed while enforcing our laws. And there is a clear difference between the conduct protected by the First Amendment and unlawful obstruction," Grassley said at the start of the hearing. "From my perspective, I believe immigration enforcement and dignity aren't mutually exclusive."
Legal experts have told NPR that much of the activity the government is claiming amounts to obstruction – like observing and filming immigration officers – is constitutionally protected.
Beyond the deaths of U.S. citizens, Noem faced bipartisan criticism over how her agency handled the immigration surge in Minnesota, where about 3,000 federal officers were deployed before a recent drawdown. The immigration operation has created an atmosphere of intense fear and chaos in the state.
During the hearing, Noem said 650 DHS agents remain in the state and they are focusing on fraud-related investigations.
Earlier this year, immigration officers for weeks also deployed aggressive tactics against Minnesotans protesting and observing their actions.
2. Noem's leadership was questioned
Although there was some bipartisan scrutiny of Noem's leadership at the hearing, lawmakers largely stuck to party lines. Democrats were critical of Noem's spending, arrest tactics and deportation targets.
GOP members of the committee had a range of questions including on the domestic terrorism label and advertisements encouraging immigrants to self-deport – an ad campaign worked on by a firm run by the husband of the former chief DHS spokesperson, according to reporting by ProPublica.
Noem declined being involved with the contracting process and told senators that Trump knew she was doing an ad campaign.
"They were effective in your name recognition. To me it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot," Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said.
In the wake of the shootings in Minnesota, some Republican senators called for Noem's resignation, including Senate Judiciary Committee member Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is not running for reelection, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
"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," Tillis said. "Law enforcement needs to learn from that. You don't protect them by not looking after the facts."
Tillis also threatened to block nominees and bills from advancing the committee to floor votes if he did not get answers soon regarding immigration enforcement in North Carolina.
"And in two weeks, if I don't get a response, I'm going to deny quorum and mark up in as many committees as I can until I get a response," he fumed.
3. Democrats' DHS shutdown demands were discussed
Democrats have spelled out a list of 10 demands to change the behavior of immigration officers, but finding consensus has been tough. Some asks, such as requiring immigration officers to wear body cameras, have bipartisan support.
Noem agreed that the body camera program needed more congressional funding.
There is also some bipartisan interest in looking into the kinds of warrants DHS uses. Noem told lawmakers that immigration officers have used administrative warrants, which are not signed by a judge, 400,000 times but only 28 times to enter a home.
But GOP lawmakers have pushed back on other demands, such as prohibiting agents from wearing masks to conceal their identities. Republicans say doing so would make it easier for people to dox federal officers.
And generally, Republicans oppose the ongoing shutdown of the agency. Noem said about 100,000 employees are working without pay.
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