GET GONE!

ICE Barbie Clings to Job Amid Growing Calls for Impeachment

Nearly 150 lawmakers have backed the effort to impeach Kristi Noem.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing growing calls to resign or face impeachment.

146 Democratic House members have already signed onto articles of impeachment against the top Trump administration official.

It comes after federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on the street in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Noem accused the VA nurse of domestic terrorism, but videos show Pretti holding up a cellphone and trying to help up a woman who was shoved to the ground before he was tackled by a group of agents and shot in the back multiple times.

On Monday, even White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt distanced President Donald Trump from Noem’s domestic terrorism claims.

The articles of impeachment were first brought against Noem by Democratic Illinois Rep. Robin Kelly in mid-January after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good.

Kelly accused Noem of having blood on her hands on Monday for the killings of Good and Pretti under her leadership.

On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democratic leaders called for Noem to be fired immediately or warned they would commence impeachment proceedings in the House.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” the said in a statement.

The articles of impeachment have almost no chance of moving forward in the Republican-controlled House, but the growing number of lawmakers signing onto the effort is a strong rebuke of the secretary and could be one of many problems for the Trump administration should Democrats regain the majority in the midterms.

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Across the U.S. Capitol, multiple Democratic senators have also called for Noem to resign or face impeachment.

Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who has been known to buck his own party and work with the administration, including voting to confirm Noem in the Senate, made a direct appeal to the president to fire Noem.

“Americans have died,” Fetterman said in a statement. “She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday also called for Noem to resign in the wake of the latest ICE killing.

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It’s not clear how long Noem will last in the job, even without the threat of impeachment.

Trump announced on Monday that he was sending his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis amid escalating tensions.

The White House insisted that the president had not lost confidence in Noem, but there have been multiple reports of a feud between Homan and the DHS secretary for some time.

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Trump held a nearly two-hour meeting with Noem on Monday night, the New York Times reported. The president did not suggest Noem’s job was at risk, but the signal is that the White House is concerned about the bipartisan criticism of ICE’s actions and Noem.

On Tuesday, Republican Senator Rand Paul blasted the response to the shooting.

“I can’t recall ever hearing a police chief immediately describing the victim as a ‘domestic terrorist’ or a ‘would-be assassin.’ For calm to be restored, an independent investigation is the least that should be done,” he wrote on X.

GOP Senator John Curtis said he disagreed with Noem’s “premature DHS response” as he also called for an independent investigation into the shooting. He said her response “weakened confidence.”

Noem is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3 after Chairman Chuck Grassley spent weeks trying to get her to testify. What was supposed to be a normal oversight hearing will very likely be dominated by questions about ICE’s use of deadly force.

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Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

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