WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Kristi Noem testified in front of Congress Tuesday as the agency operates without funding and faces backlash over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Noem, who appeared in front of lawmakers for the first time since the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration officers, defended the department’s immigration tactics and warned senators about the threats posed by a funding lapse that’s now in its third week.
“As a result, critical national security missions — including border security, immigration enforcement, aviation security, disaster response, cybersecurity, and protection of critical infrastructure — are being strained,” Noem testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
She added that the shutdown impacts on the Federal Emergency Management Agency are “particularly concerning.” Lead Republican appropriators, U.S. Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Susan Collins, R-ME, issued a similar warning Tuesday about the consequences of the shutdown on disaster response.
The pair of senators announced the Disaster Relief Fund, used to coordinate response and recovery efforts, has dropped to $4 billion. The agency traditionally keeps a reserve of $3 billion to respond to future disasters, the senators said. That means there is only $1 billion for existing responses until new appropriations are made.
During the hearing, Britt, who oversees DHS funding for Republicans, focused some of her questioning on the shutdown and how tens of thousands of federal workers, such as TSA agents, will go without a paycheck.
“Some (employees) are just recovering from the financial impact of the 43-day shutdown, and many are still reeling from it,” Britt said. “We cannot put them through another such experience.”
Britt told reporters Tuesday that Republican and Democratic senators have begun conversations over DHS funding. Lawmakers are trying a “different approach” after a bulk of the negotiations have occurred between the White House and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., she said.
“I think it’s incumbent on us, particularly given what we’re seeing in our interior, to not let the department go unfunded,” Britt said. “I think that there’s certainly a pathway forward if we’re allowed to have dialogue to be able to find that path.”
Earlier Tuesday, Schumer said the two sides were “still far apart, but we’re still negotiating and exchanging paper back and forth.”
The DHS shutdown also comes amid the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have led to a ramp-up in calls from Republicans to end the funding lapse in light of the war.
“I’ve had a number of questions from constituents over the weekend about the number of known and unknown terrorists in our interior,” Britt said. “What we saw in Austin, I think, was chilling to so many people. We want to make sure that we are doing everything possible to locate terrorists in our interior, and to obviously capture and get them out.”
Alabama’s junior senator also praised Noem and the Trump administration for “securing our border” and highlighted unaccompanied children who have come into the United States.
But Democrats pressed Noem over her handling of the administration’s immigration agenda and grilled the secretary over her past comments on Good and Pretti, in which she called the American citizens “domestic terrorists.”
Noem refused to retract her past false statements on Good and Preti when asked by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL., the committee’s top Democrat. He pushed for an answer to where she got the information that they were “domestic terrorists.”
She recalled relying on information from agents on the ground, saying it was a “chaotic scene.” Noem added that the lives lost are “tragic situations and I can’t imagine what these families go through in losing a loved one.”
“How did you think branding them as ‘domestic terrorists’ at that scene was somehow going to calm the situation?” Durbin asked.
Retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina also lashed out at Noem for handling the protests in Minneapolis.
“What we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership,” Tillis said angrily during the hearing.
Tillis called for Noem to resign and threatened to withhold nominations until he gets answers to questions about the department.
Noem is also set to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday.