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More than half of House Democrats back impeachment push against DHS chief Kristi Noem
By Elizabeth Elkind, Alex Miller
Published January 26, 2026
More than half of all Democrats in the House of Representatives are now backing a resolution to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem in the wake of another federal law enforcement-involved shooting in Minneapolis.
The push to impeach Noem, led by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., has 133 Democrats as co-sponsors endorsing the effort as of Monday morning, her office told Fox News Digital. That's out of 213 total lawmakers in the House Democratic Caucus.
It's gaining steam among both progressive and moderate Democrats, like Rep. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., who announced on Sunday that she too would support impeaching Noem amid the chaos in Minneapolis.
"Another U.S. citizen has been killed at the hands of ICE and there must be accountability, which is why Secretary Noem must be impeached immediately," Gillen posted on X.
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Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem participates in a roundtable discussion with local ranchers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees in Brownsville, Texas, on Jan. 7, 2026. (Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)
It's a notable expression of support; Gillen was one of only seven House Democrats to vote in favor of funding DHS last week as part of Congress' yearly federal appropriations process.
The surge of support comes after Alex Pretti, a nurse at Minneapolis' Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent over the weekend during a wider demonstration against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the Midwest city.
Noem said over the weekend that it appeared Pretti "arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement."
"An individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently. Fearing for his life and for the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots," she said.
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But various eyewitness accounts and critics of the Trump administration have disputed claims that Pretti was brandishing a weapon, though he was confirmed to be in possession of a handgun with a legal permit to carry.
Publicly circulated video of the incident shows him approaching federal officers holding what appeared to be his phone, filming as agents knocked a female agitator to the ground.
Pretti appeared to attempt to help the female agitator when he was knocked to the ground himself. One video angle appears to show an officer removing Pretti's weapon before he was shot.
Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., prepares to speak at the City Club of Chicago on May 12, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune via Getty Images)
The majority of Republicans have criticized Democratic leaders in Minnesota for fomenting anger toward federal officers among the population and for refusing to cooperate in Trump's offensive against illegal immigrants in the first place.
Meanwhile, Democrats have accused Trump officials of letting federal agents run amok with impunity and cause chaos in Minneapolis.
It's not clear if House Democratic leaders will support Kelly's push to impeach Noem now, but Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters to "stay tuned" last week when asked about the effort.
Any push to impeach Noem during this congressional term would likely be largely symbolic, however. It's highly unlikely that enough Republicans would vote with Democrats on the resolution to pass the House, or that it will get the 60 votes in the Senate needed for removal.
House Democrats' furor to boot Noem from her post has not quite made its way to the upper chamber, but it got support from one key moderate in the party.
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Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., echoed her colleagues in the lower chamber and demanded that the DHS head be impeached for being an "abject failure" at leading the agency.
Rosen, like several other congressional Democrats, reacted sharply to Pretti's killing and, so far, is the only Senate Democrat calling for Noem’s impeachment.
The lawmaker argued that Noem’s usage of ICE in Minnesota was the "latest proof" of her losing control over her own agency.
A screengrab from a video shows a law enforcement officer spraying irritants at Alex Pretti before he was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis, on Jan. 24, 2026. (Reuters)
"Kristi Noem and her department’s latest attempt to mislead the American public regarding the brutal and unjustified killing of Alex Pretti is deeply shameful, and she must be impeached and removed from office immediately," Rosen said.
Rosen’s position carries weight, too, given that she is one of the more moderate members of the Senate Democratic caucus, and she was also one of a handful to cross the aisle to reopen the government during the longest closure in history last year.
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Senate Democrats are now ready to block the DHS funding bill as the deadline to fund the government and prevent another shutdown fast approaches.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital of Democrats' efforts, "DHS enforces the laws Congress passes, period. If certain members don’t like those laws, changing them is literally their job."
"While ICE officers are facing a staggering 1,300% spike in assaults, too many politicians would rather defend criminals and attack the men and women who are enforcing our laws and did nothing while Joe Biden facilitated an invasion of tens of millions of illegal aliens into our country," McLaughlin said. "It’s time they focus on protecting the American people, the work this Department is doing every day under Secretary Noem’s leadership."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/more-than-half-house-democrats-back-impeachment-push-against-dhs-chief-kristi-noem