House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., delivered sharp criticism of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday, calling her “completely and totally unqualified” and arguing she should not have been confirmed.
“It’s disgraceful that she’s there,” Jeffries said during a press conference. “She should be run out of town as soon as possible.”
His remarks come as criticism of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has intensified among Democrats following a deadly, ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis last week.
An ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, during enforcement activity. Officials have said Good posed a threat to agents as they conducted operations. Since the incident, political fault lines have widened over what happened in the moments before the shooting and whether the agent’s use of force was justified.
On Monday, Jeffries said Noem, DHS, and ICE were “totally out of control,” adding that “the American people want these extremists to be reined in.”
Jeffries said Good “should be alive today” and accused both Noem and the agent who fired the shot of showing a “depraved indifference toward human life.”
DHS pushed back in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
“How silly during a serious time,” a DHS spokesperson said. “As ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, Rep. Jeffries is more focused on showmanship and sewing division than cleaning up his crime-ridden New York district.”
The spokesperson added that Jeffries, as minority leader, “has the power to make change,” and said DHS hopes he will “get serious about doing his job to protect American people,” which the department said it is doing under Noem.
Video from the incident has become a major point of dispute. Footage appears to show Good’s car making contact with the agent before he opened fire. Arguments have continued over whether she was deliberately interfering with federal agents—potentially using her car as a weapon—or whether she was attempting to leave the scene.
Federal officials, including Noem, have defended the agent’s actions as self-defense and have accused Good of trying to impede ICE activity in Minneapolis, a city controlled by Democrats.
Democratic officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have accused ICE and Republican leaders of escalating fear and tension in the city, and have called for the federal government to halt operations there.
The political fight is also spilling into the funding debate on Capitol Hill. Some Democrats have threatened to withhold support for DHS funding unless reforms are implemented—an approach Jeffries referenced on Monday as lawmakers face a fast-approaching deadline.
“What’s in front of us right now is a spending bill that will go either one of two ways,” Jeffries said. He suggested that if Republicans continue what he described as a “my-way-or-the-highway approach” to DHS funding, “then it’s going to be on them to figure out a path forward.”
Jeffries also argued that, in the aftermath of the shooting, “commonsense measures” are needed so that ICE operates in a way “consistent with every other law enforcement agency” at the state, local, and federal levels.
The deadline to finalize federal funding and avert a partial government shutdown is the end of day on Jan. 30.
