This is the last thing in the world that ICE Barbie needs right now…

“The data clearly shows that something is seriously wrong here,” Tillis said, directing the room’s attention to a chart showcasing the federal responses to hurricanes Helene, Matthew, and Florence. “Under Secretary Noem’s lack of leadership, FEMA has invented an entirely new set of bureaucracies, the likes of which I’ve never seen. And I’m in a state that deals with a disaster almost every season.”

Tillis’s state of North Carolina was ravaged by Hurricane Helene near the end of 2024, resulting in at least 108 deaths. The FEMA response — which came under the control of Noem’s Department of Homeland Security once Trump was sworn in — was sluggish, inefficient, and historically incompetent. Noem bottlenecked the flow of aid to the state by insisting on personally reviewing many disbursements. At a time when people needed help as quickly as possibly, Noem chose to nickel-and-dime them, part of a broader MAGA trend of choking off funds to average Americans to ensure that every last penny goes towards tax cuts for the rich.

“Now under Noem’s leadership, which is supposed to be more efficient, more effective and more responsive to the disaster in western North Carolina and the other states that were affected look like the EKG of someone who’s having a heart attack,” said Tillis.

The senator’s chart showed that the federal response to Helene was far worse than the responses to Matthew and Florence, a damning indictment of Noem’s leadership.

Tillis’ fiery condemnation comes at a time when Noem can scarcely afford more criticism of her leadership. Americans are clamoring for her to be fired for ICE’s rampant abuses and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has already announced plans to impeach her.

“What she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job,” Tillis said earlier thisbweek. “It’s just amateur-ish. It’s terrible. It’s making the president look bad on policy that he won on. [President Trump] won on a strong message on immigration. Now, nobody’s talking about that. … They’re talking about the incompetence of the leader of the Homeland Security.”

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Tillis says Noem should be ‘out of a job’ over Minneapolis response

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Monday called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be ousted from her job after she labeled a slain protester a “domestic terrorist” without evidence over the weekend.

Tillis became the first Senate Republican to call for Noem to be fired in the aftermath of the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a Minneapolis-area Veterans Affairs hospital, who was shot multiple times by a Border Patrol agent. 

“What she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job,” he said. “It’s just amateur-ish. It’s terrible. It’s making the president look bad on policy that he won on. [President Trump] won on a strong message on immigration. Now, nobody’s talking about that. … They’re talking about the incompetence of the leader of the Homeland Security [Department].”

“Those two people told the president before they even had an incident report whatsoever that the person who died was a terrorist. That is amateur hour at its worst,” Tillis said about Noem and Stephen Miller, a top aide to the president.

Tillis went on to pan Noem for being among those responsible for “squandering the opportunity” to codify positive parts of the immigration efforts.

Tillis was pointing to Noem’s remarks immediately after Pretti’s death, when she claimed without evidence that Pretti was brandishing a gun and was trying “to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”

Video footage of Pretti’s confrontation with federal agents shows that he was holding his cellphone in one hand while his other hand was empty before he was pepper sprayed by an officer and pushed to the ground.

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The footage also shows that one law enforcement officer pulled away the gun Pretti was carrying with a permit on his beltline before two other officers fired approximately 10 shots at Pretti while he was kneeling and then lying on the pavement.

“What sort of judgment is that for somebody who’s running a very consequential and important organization?” Tillis said of Noem’s snap characterization of Pretti as a terrorist.

Tillis said he had “communicated” his concerns about Noem to President Trump and the White House.

“I think she’s out of her depth, she’s proven that. She doesn’t know how to lead, how to de-escalate. She’s exposing ICE officers to dangerous situations, she’s exposing U.S. citizens to deadly situations,” Tillis said.

He also heaped criticism on Gregory Bovino, the since-removed Border Patrol commander at-large, saying he “needs to go back to California, get his retirement papers and go.”

“They got to de-escalate there and treat these communities with some respect,” he added. 

The North Carolina Republican has been critical of Noem in recent months for her refusal to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She is expected to do that on March 3.

The North Carolina senator also panned Noem’s handling of hurricane relief for his state, which is still suffering from the after effects of Hurricane Helene, a storm that caused widespread flooding around Asheville and other rural communities.

One Rubicon Tillis declined to cross was impeachment, saying Noem’s future should instead be “a management decision.”

“She needs to go,” he said. 

More than 160 House Democrats have signed on to articles of impeachment against her, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) backed that effort on Tuesday.