House Republicans blast Noem impeachment resolution as 'partisan stunt,' as Dems fail to reach across aisle

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Leavitt says Trump has 'utmost' respect for Kristi Noem as Tom Homan deploys to Minnesota

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026.

Several House Republicans say Democrats are not working across the aisle on a resolution to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and slammed the Democratic minority’s move as a "messaging exercise" and "partisan stunt." 

Despite more than half of the Democratic caucus sponsoring the resolution, which was introduced by Rep. Robin Kelly on Jan. 14, there are still a number of Democrats who have yet to sponsor. Kelly posted to X on Monday night that 146 of the 213 House Dems have signed on to the articles of impeachment.

GOP sources on Capitol Hill tell Fox News Digital that there has been no effort from Democrats to work with Republicans on the resolution. 

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, introduced a similar resolution in 2023 to impeach President Biden’s DHS secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, and noted that the impeachment articles garnered more support than the Democrats’ attempt to remove Noem from the position.

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"Mayorkas presided over an open border and the worst human trafficking crisis in modern history, during which 11 million illegal aliens entered our country," Fallon told Fox News Digital. "Sec. Noem, by contrast, has actually done the job she was appointed to carry out.

House Republicans accuse Democrats of pushing a partisan impeachment effort against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, arguing the resolution lacks bipartisan support and is aimed more at political messaging than accountability. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)

"The record low border crossings we have seen in just the first year of the Trump Administration make clear that Mayorkas willingly chose to leave our border open, despite his two-faced rhetoric under oath," Fallon added. "Secretary Noem is doing her job at DHS, whereas Mayorkas failed."

Fallon was also joined by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., in introducing the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in 2023. Biggs, who is currently running for governor of Arizona, told Fox News Digital "what Democrats are pushing now is something entirely different."

"[Mayorkas] willfully refused to enforce federal law, misled Congress, and presided over the worst border collapse in American history," Biggs told Fox News Digital. "As a Representative from Arizona, I’ve seen firsthand the harm his failures caused—overrun communities, overwhelmed law enforcement, and a federal government that abandoned its duty to secure the border."

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, dismissed Democrat efforts to impeach Noem, referring to the resolution as a "messaging exercise."  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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"[Noem impeachment articles are] a partisan stunt with no factual or constitutional basis, and they couldn’t even unify their own caucus behind it," Biggs added.

"Weaponizing impeachment cheapens a serious constitutional remedy, and the American people know the difference between real misconduct and manufactured outrage."

While Fallon and Biggs’ bill didn’t make it to a vote on the House Floor, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, R-Ga., articles of impeachment were passed by the Republican majority in 2024 in a 214-213 vote, which officially impeached Mayorkas.

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Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital that the resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is incomparable to the successful resolution that ultimately impeached Mayorkas.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The vote to formally convict the former DHS Secretary died in the Senate in a 51-49 vote when the chamber had a Democrat majority. A two-thirds majority is required to remove an official from office if an impeachment conviction is reached in the Senate. No Democrats in both the House and the Senate voted in favor of impeaching Mayorkas. 

With Republicans now controlling both the House and the Senate, Democrats have a heavy lift if they intend to impeach Noem, and Fallon even dismissed the current resolution that Kelly introduced as a "messaging exercise."

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"It makes sense then that Democrats can’t even present a unified front on their Secretary Noem impeachment resolution," Fallon told Fox News Digital. "This is a messaging exercise aimed at catering to Democrats’ increasingly far-left base and is equally as divorced from reality."

Should Democrats take control of the House after the 2026 midterms, a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate remains unlikely in 2027. 

President Donald Trump told reporters that Noem would not be stepping down from her role during a press gaggle on Tuesday. 

"This is obviously one of those witch hunts," Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. "This is another example of the Democrats showing their hypocrisy."

An FBI agent on the scene of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images and ODU English Department/Facebook)

"When Barack Obama was deporting people like hot cakes, they did nothing about it," Hunt, who is running for governor of Texas, added. "He has deported far more people than President Trump has and both of his presidencies combined. And so the fact that they are now using tactics like this just shows that they're grasping at straws."

When asked about the key difference between the Mayorkas impeachment and the resolution to impeach Noem, Hunt said, "Well, 20 million people in this country illegally."

The articles of impeachment were notably introduced prior to the deadly Border Patrol-involved shooting of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.

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Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, was killed in Minneapolis after Secretary Noem said Pretti "violently resisted" arrest and a Border Patrol agent who initially fired was "fearing for his life."

In a separate instance in Minneapolis on Jan. 14, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent during an altercation that took place. DHS said that Good attempted to impede law enforcement operations by using her car to block the passage of agents. DHS cited a video that showed Good accelerating toward an officer, causing the officer to draw his weapon and fire 4 shots at Good. One shot struck the 37-year-old in the head, resulting in her death. 

Agitators converge after the shooting of Alex Pretti. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

The agency later revealed the officer who fired the shots in what DHS says was according to protocol and in self-defense. He suffered from internal bleeding after being struck by Good’s vehicle.

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Following Good’s death, demonstrations erupted in the streets of Minneapolis with little to no local police presence. Agitators were directing traffic and barricades were established similar to agitator zoning that took place in the Twin Cities after the death of George Floyd.

Trump held a phone call with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday morning. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president asked Walz to "work together peacefully" with ICE agents and DHS.