Fetterman demands Trump fire Noem after deadly Minnesota shootings
'She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy,' Fetterman said in his appeal to Trump
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has called upon President Donald Trump to fire Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
In a Tuesday post on X, the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania accused Noem of "betraying" the department's central mission.
Tagging the @POTUS and @realDonaldTrump accounts on X, Fetterman declared, "I make a direct appeal to immediately fire @Sec_Noem."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., one of eight Democrats to say he will vote with Republicans to open the government, speaks to reporters outside the Senate Chamber during votes on Nov. 10, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. ( Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
"Americans have died. She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy. DO NOT make the mistake President Biden made for not firing a grossly incompetent DHS Secretary," the senator warned.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House regarding Fetterman's new plea and was referred to comments made by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Secretary Noem still has the utmost confidence and trust of the president of the United States," Leavitt said. Noem is "continuing to oversee the entire Department of Homeland Security and all of the immigration enforcement that's taking place across the whole entire country," Leavitt added. "Of course, Secretary Noem is also in charge of FEMA and we are in the wake of a brutal winter storm where hundreds of thousands of Americans have been impacted by that."
Unlike other Democratic senators, Fetterman typically takes a more pragmatic stance toward Trump and the broader GOP on issues including immigration and border security. In recent weeks, Fetterman had encouraged his party to avoid calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As the Trump administration has been having federal authorities crack down on illegal immigrants around the U.S., the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota have sparked controversy this month.
"Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti should still be alive. My family grieves for theirs," Fetterman said in a statement on Monday.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference in the National Response Coordination Center at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters on Jan. 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. ( Al Drago/Getty Images)
"The operation in Minneapolis should stand down and immediately end. It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit," he noted.
"As a very pro-immigration Democrat and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Border Management, I believe our nation deserves a secured border and that we should deport all criminal migrants. I also believe there needs to be a path to citizenship for those hardworking families who are here," Fetterman said in the statement.
But he also reiterated that he opposes the idea of abolishing ICE.
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"I reject the calls to defund or abolish ICE. I strongly disagree with many strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and believe that must change," he said in the statement.