No Noem or no deal: Democrats vow to oppose any funding bill if DHS chief remains in charge
House and Senate Democrats have a long list of demands to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded past Friday, but some include an extra caveat.
Several Democrats told The Washington Times that they cannot support any funding deal if Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem remains in charge of the department.
“She has completely abandoned and violated all of her duties and obligations,” said Rep. Daniel Goldman, New York Democrat. “It’s a completely lawless agency right now with no accountability. And she is just outright lying to the American people repeatedly, and has demonstrated herself to be completely unqualified and incompetent.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida suggested that the majority of the House Democratic Caucus would have trouble supporting a funding deal with Ms. Noem remaining in charge. Stopgap funding for the department expires Friday.
“One of the points that are on our list of things that we want and we need for our votes is for Kristi Noem to go,” he said.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, both New York Democrats, recently sent a joint letter to Republican leaders outlining 10 immigration enforcement “guardrails” they want applied to funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
SEE ALSO: Ball is in the GOP’s court on DHS funding standoff, House minority leader says
Although replacing Ms. Noem was not on the 10-point list, they did mention her in the letter.
“Furthermore, there are steps that the Trump administration has the power to take right now to show good faith, including fully ramping down the surge in Minnesota and removing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem from her position,” Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Schumer said.
Although Democrats and a couple of moderate Republicans have called for her ouster, Ms. Noem has Republican support in the House and Senate.
President Trump also stands by her. He said Thursday that he would rebuff any suggestion that he fire her.
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“Why would I do that?” he said. “We have the strongest border in the history of our country. We have the best crime numbers we’ve ever had, going back to the year 1900. That’s 125 years.”
The House Democratic leadership team has threatened to begin impeachment proceedings against Ms. Noem if Mr. Trump does not fire her.
An overwhelming majority of House Democrats, 87% of the 214-member caucus, have signed on to a resolution to impeach Ms. Noem.
The measure, led by Rep. Robin Kelly, Illinois Democrat, charges Ms. Noem with three articles of impeachment: obstruction of Congress, violation of the public trust and self-dealing.
The obstruction of Congress charge accuses Ms. Noem of violating the appropriations law that allows members of Congress to conduct oversight of Homeland Security Department detention centers without providing notice of their plans to enter.
The violation of public trust charge cites incidents in which Ms. Noem has directed ICE “to make widespread warrantless arrests, forgo due process and use violence against United States citizens, lawful residents, and other individuals.”
The self-dealing charge alleges that Ms. Noem funneled taxpayer dollars to friends’ businesses using “the cover of a national emergency to bypass the competitive bidding process.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has said he plans to build on Ms. Kelly’s resolution “through fact-finding, public hearings, and committee reports detailing all of Secretary Noem’s potential high crimes and misdemeanors.”
“This process, which the House has followed in every successful impeachment, will afford us the best opportunity to build the most fitting and powerful case for impeachment and removal from office,” he said. “It will also enable us to conduct a broad campaign to educate the American people about this sequence of oppressive governmental actions.”
Those proceedings will certainly take longer than the week Congress has left to negotiate and pass funding for the Homeland Security Department, and Democrats are reluctant to approve another stopgap.
“So Trump better get to work and fire her,” Mr. Frost said.
Some Democrats left minor wiggle room when The Times asked whether they would vote for any funding deal with Ms. Noem still in charge.
“She’s a problem,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. “I guess there’s always a conversation, but I’ve not seen one Democratic defender of Noem’s job performance.”
“I’d have to see what was on the table, but that’s a pretty hard pill to swallow,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat. “She has made so clear that she cares more about posturing for the cameras than about human beings that her officers are terrorizing and killing.”
Ms. Warren said changing the law is not enough because Ms. Noem and her agents have routinely violated it. What’s needed, she said, are accountability mechanisms, such as forcing ICE to submit to an independent monitor and allowing civil legal remedies if agents break the law.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat, also said civil liability needs to be applied to ICE and its agents regardless of whether Ms. Noem stays or goes.
“I’ve asked for her resignation or to be fired, and I favor her impeachment, but Kristi Noem leaving is insufficient because the culture and the practices are the problem,” he said.
A few Democrats, including the party’s top House appropriator, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, said Ms. Noem’s departure is not a necessary condition for a funding deal, even though they would like to see her go.
Sen. Christopher Murphy, Connecticut Democrat and the Senate’s top homeland security appropriator, said the department has bigger problems than Ms. Noem.
“The reforms are most important right now. That, to me, is what we should be hanging our hat on,” he said. “I worry that changing the name on the door doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.”
