WASHINGTON – Democrats within the House of Representatives are escalating their push to question Kristi Noem, the pinnacle of the Department of Homeland Security, over the company’s lethal crackdown in Minnesota.
Since Democrats don’t management the House, they’ll’t management impeachment proceedings, however House Democratic chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) mentioned Tuesday they’d start to put the groundwork for impeaching Noem if President Donald Trump doesn’t fireplace her.
“We have to build the case so that we can convince a handful of Republicans, as we have done on other issues, that the time is now to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable for their behavior,” Jeffries mentioned on MS NOW.
Under Noem’s management, immigration enforcement brokers swarmed Minneapolis this month, upsetting indignant protests and killing two American residents in separate incidents captured on digicam from a number of angles.
Even earlier than a Border Patrol agent killed Alex Pretti on Saturday, a Democratic impeachment decision towards Noem had greater than 100 cosponsors. Noem falsely claimed that Pretti brandished a weapon at federal brokers and “attacked” them. Videos confirmed Pretti holding up his cellphone digicam earlier than brokers tackled him to the bottom and shot him repeatedly.
Several Republicans have brazenly questioned the Trump administration’s heavy-handed ways in Minnesota, however none have mentioned they’d assist impeaching Noem. Still, Democrats’ feedback on Tuesday counsel they sense Noem is in hassle.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the highest Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, which is the commonest venue for impeachment proceedings, mentioned Tuesday that if committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) didn’t assist an impeachment inquiry, then Raskin would work throughout committees with different high Democrats to develop the case towards Noem.
A spokesperson for Jordan declined to remark.
The feedback from Jeffries and Raskin, who will not be cosponsors of the present impeachment decision, point out they favored an intensive investigation reasonably than a snap impeachment vote towards Noem, which any member of the House can set off.
“We must build on this resolution, through fact-finding, public hearings, and committee reports detailing all of Secretary Noem’s potential high crimes and misdemeanors and take our case to the American people,” Raskin mentioned. “This course of — which the House has adopted in each profitable impeachment — will afford us the very best alternative to construct essentially the most becoming and highly effective case for impeachment and removing for workplace. “
In February 2024, the House adopted an impeachment decision towards then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for having supposedly allowed thousands and thousands of unlawful immigrants into the nation by way of his personal illegal conduct. The Senate later distributed with the decision, which might seemingly be the end result if the House impeached Noem. It takes 67 votes for the Senate to convict and take away from workplace somebody who’s been impeached by the House.
President Trump mentioned Tuesday he has no plans to do away with Noem, however the administration has however shifted its strategy in Minnesota by relieving a outstanding Border Patrol commander from responsibility there and sending in Tom Homan, the White House border czar. The administration has flooded Minnesota with federal brokers supposedly in response to welfare fraud by folks of Somali descent.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kristi-noem-impeachment-minnesota_n_697923a4e4b0baacbfb7616e