ICE Barbie Caves to Top Republican in Desperate Bid to Save Her Job
Kristi Noem has spent months haggling over the appearance.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has finally agreed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee, under increasing pressure following the brutal killing of nurse Alex Preeti by a federal agent in an intensive care unit.
Alex Preeti, 37, was shot and killed Saturday in a public place by a masked federal agent in Minneapolis. Renee Goode had been killed on January 7 in the same neighborhood by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed the agent acted in self-defense. According to Kristi Noem, Alex Preeti “was armed, had a large quantity of ammunition, and intended to harm these officers, as she was advancing towards them with a weapon in hand.”
Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Grassley, had been trying for months to persuade Kristi Noem to appear before the Judiciary Committee. Although her testimony is not directly related to the events in Minneapolis, the outrage over Alex Preeti’s brutal murder appears to have precipitated her appearance. These events are expected to dominate the proceedings.
Noem, 54, has been particularly criticized for labeling Preity Zinta and Joe Goode as “domestic terrorists” following their deaths at the hands of federal agents, without providing any evidence to support her claims. The Senate Judiciary Committee has the authority to investigate federal officials and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security.
The Washington Examiner, a conservative newspaper, reported on Monday that the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Legislative Affairs had authorized Noem’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Grassley’s office confirmed to the Daily Beast on Monday that Noem is scheduled to testify on March 3 for a single round of questioning, with each senator allotted 10 minutes to ask questions. Grassley’s office stated that the senator’s team “has been in contact with the Department of Homeland Security for months to schedule a date” for the oversight hearing.
Grassley, 92, said that Noem had initially wanted to limit her testimony to five minutes.
“She’s willing to come, but she wanted to limit the questioning to five minutes, which we refused,” Grassley told the Examiner earlier this month, noting that federal prosecutor Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel had agreed to ten minutes of questioning.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, also a member of the committee, has called for an independent investigation into Preeti’s death. Tillis blocked the confirmation of Homeland Security nominees earlier this month, citing Noem’s delay in testifying as the reason.
Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, alluded to reports that Noem’s job is in jeopardy.
“Secretary Noem refused to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, and now she tells us she’ll be available in five weeks—if she’s still Secretary of Homeland Security by then,” Durbin said in a statement posted on his X platform.
“Despite DHS’s involvement in numerous acts of violence and deaths, the Secretary doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to explain her mismanagement of this national crisis. And she expects us to approve her record budget in the meantime.”
Bill Milugen, Fox News’ congressional correspondent, said on X Sunday that he had spoken with more than six sources within federal immigration services, including several high-ranking officials, who expressed disappointment with DHS’s handling of the deadly shooting.
Milugen reported that one of its sources claimed that the DHS’s response to the tragedy “was only making things worse,” while another stated, “We are losing this war, and we are losing public support and control of the media.”
On Monday, the Examiner reported that Greg Bovino, Noem’s deputy and commander of border patrol operations, was removed from his position as supervisor of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis following Preeti’s death.
He will resume command of border patrol operations in El Centro, California, effective Tuesday.
The Daily Beast exclusively revealed on Monday that Donald Trump had dispatched Border Patrol chief Tom Homan to Minneapolis after his senior staff blamed Noem for the public outrage over the death of a second American citizen killed by a federal agent this month.
Noem attempted to control the narrative and deflect attention from the events surrounding Homan’s surprise appointment in Minneapolis to help manage the protests sparked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
“This is good news for peace, security, and transparency in Minneapolis,” Noem wrote on X. “I have worked closely with Tom over the past year, and he has been a valuable asset to our team.”
White House spokesperson Carolyn Leavitt insisted that Homan’s appointment in Minneapolis was simply due to Noem’s unavailability for other duties.
“Secretary of Homeland Security Noem retains the full confidence of the president,” Leavitt said. “She continues to oversee the entire Department of Homeland Security and all immigration enforcement operations across the country.”
