- Senator Thom Tillis, who laid into Department of Homeland Security boss Kristi Noem during Congressional hearings this week, threw a jab at the soon-to-be former secretary while praising her replacement.
- Noem faced intense scrutiny during a four-hour Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about her agency's immigration enforcement practices. She declined to apologize for labelling American citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were fatally shot by federal agents, as “domestic terrorists,” despite strong criticism from both Republican and Democratic senators.
- Tillis, a Republican, severely criticized Noem's leadership at the hearing, stating, “What we’ve seen is a disaster.” He added, “The fact you can’t admit to a mistake — which looks like, under investigation, is going to prove that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and in the back.”
- He compared her DHS tenure to an anecdote Noem included in her book about killing her 14-month-old dog and blasted her “audacity to say it’s a leadership lesson about tough choices.”
- Tillis wrote in a post Thursday after Trump announced Noem’s firing and her replacement, “Senator Markwayne Mullin is a great guy and a great choice to lead DHS, restore competence, and refocus efforts on quickly distributing disaster aid, keeping the border secure, and targeting violent illegal immigrants for deportation. Another big positive: he likes dogs.”
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