Dem rep opens House hearing by telling Noem to resign in fiery statement
Rep Bennie Thompson D-Miss called on Homeland Defense Secretary Kristi Noem to resign Thursday during opening remarks at a House Homeland Protection Committee hearing on Worldwide Threats to the Homeland You have systematically dismantled the Department of Homeland Prevention put your own interests above the department and violated the law You are making America less safe announced Thompson So rather than sitting here and wasting your time and ours with more corruption lies and lawlessness I call on you to resign Do a real utility to the country and just resign That is if President Trump doesn't fire you first As Noem was giving her opening report several protesters against U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE interrupted yelling Get ICE off our streets and Stop terrorizing our neighborhood The protesters were escorted out by Capitol Police and detained outside the hearing room NOEM SAYS ZOHRAN MAMDANI COULD BE 'VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTION' WITH ADVICE ON EVADING ICE AGENTSNoem who was joined at the hearing by National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent and Michael Glasheen the operations director of the National Defense Branch of the FBI stated one of her grandchildren who was in the audience was crying a little during Thompson s remarks I don't think she agreed with him Noem announced jokingly She touted the work DHS has done to secure the southern edge and protect the U S DHS is eradicating transnational organized crime and the stopping of deadly drugs from continuing to be funneled into our communities she reported lawmakers We're ending illegal immigration returning sanity back to our immigration system and we're defending against cyberattacks against our critical infrastructure NOEM CALLS FOR 'FULL ADVANCE BAN' ON COUNTRIES 'FLOODING' US WITH IMMIGRANTS AFTER DC ATTACKThe former South Dakota governor speaking about the global threats facing the country including those posed by domestic extremists and radical Islamic terrorism commented the U S should brace for heightened risks as it prepares to host major events in such as the World Cup and the nation s th birthday These large-scale events will be foreseen targets for a range of bad actors and they come with an increased level of menace DHS is using every tool and authority we have to ensure the safety of U S citizens and our visitors can enjoy next year's events Noem added Rumors had swirled in new days that President Donald Trump was considering replacing her as head of DHS Trump pushed back on those rumors on Wednesday telling reporters that Noem has been fantastic Noem also addressed the rumors speaking to Fox News prior to Thursday's hearing Oh that's absolutely not true she declared President Trump and I are doing wonderfully I'm so proud to work for him and I'm going to continue to serve at his pleasure Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this summary