U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez and Sen. Tammy Duckworth went face-to-face with top Trump administration officials in separate Washington hearings Thursday, with Ramirez calling for an investigation into Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s “potentially impeachable actions” and repeatedly calling her a liar.
“Secretary Noem, you lie and you lie to the American people,” Ramirez said at the House Homeland Security Committee after playing a clip of Noem saying “no Americans have been arrested or detained — we focus on those who are here illegally.”
Ramirez cited a ProPublica story that reported more than 170 U.S. citizens have been held by immigration agents. And she accused Noem of “smiling” during her questioning.
“There’s nothing smiling about U.S. citizens,” Ramirez said. “I’m sorry that’s very inappropriate…They’ve been dragged and detained for days.”
Ramirez penned a letter on Wednesday that asked House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, “to conduct a complete investigation into Secretary Noem’s “unlawful and potentially impeachable actions.” Her office called it “the first steps” towards impeaching Noem.
“Bottom line, you lie with impunity. You reject checks and balances and you ignore Congress and the courts,” Ramirez told Noem on Thursday. “Either you’re going to resign, Trump’s going to fire you or you will be impeached. I’ve already called for your resignation… and I urge you to reconsider resignation because I’ve taken the first step towards your impeachment, and I’ve called on the Judiciary Committee to open an investigation into your lawlessness.”
Ramirez’s back and forth with Noem featured limited actual questions for Noem, although the congresswoman asked the secretary whether it was her “obligation as a member of the executive branch to honor decisions made by the highest court of land.”
“We are abiding by all federal judges’ orders,” Noem said. “Absolutely.” Ramirez shot back that Noem violated court orders by not turning around deportation flights bound for El Savador, despite a court order.
Noem also said she would meet with Ramirez, after Ramirez cited several instances in which she requested a meeting with her, including during an Oct. 3 visit to Chicago.
A spokesman for Jordan called Ramirez’s letter requesting an investigation into Noem, “the most ridiculous and toothless correspondence ever written,” signaling the request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Earlier in the hearing, Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., asked Noem why she “misled” the American public in saying U.S. citizens aren’t being arrested or detained, despite the at least 170 reported cases.
“Are you lying to the American people right now by denying these reports? Thanedar said.
“When we are doing our targeted enforcement operations against criminal illegal aliens, individuals that are in that area may be detained until we verify who they are and then they are released,” Noem said. “This has been done for years and every single law enforcement operation, that has always happened.”
Noem also said they have “never once detained or deported an American citizen,” as Thanedar interrupted to say, “Not true.”
Meanwhile, at the Senate Armed Services Committee, Duckworth questioned leaders with the Trump administration’s Defense Department on Trump’s domestic deployments of American military troops. The senator secured the hearing in early October shortly after she blocked expedited passage of the National Defense Authorization Act until the hearing was secured.
“Let me tell you what is happening in Chicago. It is not ICE agents that are being attacked. ICE agents are the ones who tear gas over two dozen Chicago police officers. ICE agents are the ones who tear gas toddlers,” Duckworth said. “They are the ones pointing loaded weapons at unarmed bystanders, hauling preschool teachers from daycare in front of their kids and rappelling from DHS helicopters onto apartment buildings in the dead of night to rip families from their beds and detain them for hours and then when they go to court, had to admit that they have no basis to file any charges… That is the terror that is happening in Chicago.”
Duckworth asked Charles L. Young III, principal deputy general counsel for the Defense Department, whether National Guard members would be granted legal protection if they intervene to stop a federal agent from wrongfully harming a civilian.
Young said the Justice Department would handle the case based on recommendations from the Defense Department.
“The presumption is that our troops will act lawfully…” Young said.
“Okay, listen, this is a straightforward answer, and the fact that it isn’t to you is deeply concerning to me,” Duckworth said. “Federal law enforcement agents actually have a legal duty to intervene to prevent a fellow officer from using excessive force. Uniformed service members on the other hand, have no comparable obligations, nor accompanying legal protections if they decide to intervene against a federal agent to protect a civilian. They do so at their own risk….I fear the day when Americans stop thanking our troops for their service because they’re afraid of our troops.”