WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) penned an op-ed for MS NOW calling on her House colleagues to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem due to her failed leadership and the chaos ICE has caused in Minnesota and across the country. Rosen led the charge in the Senate on calling for Noem’s impeachment last Sunday.
MS NOW: Why my House colleagues should impeach Kristi Noem
By Senator Jacky Rosen
Key Points:
- Like millions of Americans, I watched in horror the videos from Minneapolis over the weekend. Saturday’s shocking, brutal and indefensible killing of Alex Pretti did not take place in the shadows. It happened in public, in broad daylight, because an out-of-control government agency believes it can act with impunity.
- It’s clear that Secretary Noem has lost control over her department and staff. She’s either too incompetent to rein in the agencies under her purview, or she endorses the blatant Constitutional violations being committed or — even worse — both.
- I’m under no illusions here that Noem is the only one to blame. She was picked by President Donald Trump for DHS because she’s a sycophant, her loyalty is only to him and she follows orders from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and other extremists in the administration.
- But as the secretary of DHS, the buck stops with her. She took an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution as the leader overseeing agencies that include ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
- But instead of making sure ICE and CBP follow the Constitution and don’t violate anyone’s rights, Secretary Noem has been asleep at the wheel, more focused on using your tax dollars for her own benefit than on protecting the homeland.
- She used your tax dollars to buy two private jets. According to reports, she even splurged to get planes with “the most spacious cabin in the industry,” spending four times the initial cost.
- Americans in need got squeezed by high costs and got their Medicaid taken away and food stamps reduced as Noem focused on being able to fly around the country in luxury.
- And it’s not just that she’s using her office for personal benefit. It appears that she’s also using her office to benefit her political allies.
- ProPublica reported in November that, under Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS awarded $220 million in taxpayer-funded advertising contracts to firms with close ties to her and other senior DHS officials.
- It is clear Noem is distracted, wasting your tax dollars and ignoring her department’s core mission, all while immigration agents are running rampant and killing U.S. citizens.
- And instead of taking accountability or expressing any regret for her actions, she decided to spread lies and mislead the American public, including when it came to Mr. Pretti’s brutal and unjustified killing.
- That was the last straw for me and for many around the country.
- To see the secretary of Homeland Security insinuating — even before an investigation had started — that Mr. Pretti was a “domestic terrorist” who tried to kill ICE officers, when the videos show he never once brandished his weapon, was insulting and disgusting.
- As a member of the U.S. Senate, with the power to remove a government official after they’ve been impeached by the House of Representatives, I’m speaking out and sounding the alarm.
- I’m urging both parties to come together to start the impeachment of Kristi Noem, and I stand ready to vote to convict and remove her immediately from office.
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