The wheels are coming off at the Department of Homeland Security, and at least one senior Republican senator has seen enough.
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina pulled no punches Tuesday when he called for the immediate removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying her handling of a fatal shooting in Minneapolis over the weekend disqualifies her from leading the department. In remarks to reporters on Capitol Hill, Tillis used words like “amateur-ish” and “incompetence” to describe Noem’s performance.
“What she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job,” Tillis said plainly. “It’s just amateur-ish. It’s terrible. It’s making the president look bad on policy that he won on.”
The senator’s frustration stems from more than just the incident itself. It reaches into the heart of what should be a winning issue for the administration.
“President Trump won on a strong message on immigration. Now, nobody’s talking about that,” Tillis continued. “They’re talking about the incompetence of the leader of the Homeland Security.”
The incident in question claimed the life of Alex Pretti, an American citizen, during what DHS describes as an enforcement operation that went terribly wrong. According to a report the department delivered to members of Congress on Tuesday, the fatal confrontation began when Border Patrol agents attempted to clear two non-compliant women from a roadway.
When the women refused to move, an officer physically pushed them aside. One woman then ran to Pretti, who the report specifically identifies as a United States citizen. The officer attempted to move both Pretti and the woman from the road, but when they did not comply, the officer deployed pepper spray against both individuals.
What happened next turned a tense situation deadly. Border Patrol personnel attempted to take Pretti into custody, but he resisted. During the ensuing struggle, an agent shouted multiple times that Pretti had a gun. Moments later, another agent discharged his Glock 19 service weapon.
The particulars of this case raise serious questions about operational procedures, command decisions, and the messaging that followed. For Tillis, those questions point directly to failures at the top of the department’s leadership structure.
This is not the kind of controversy any administration needs when immigration enforcement remains a cornerstone policy issue. The tragedy in Minneapolis has shifted the national conversation away from border security achievements and toward questions about federal law enforcement tactics on American streets.
Tillis represents a state that has consistently supported strong immigration enforcement, and his constituents expected competent execution of those policies. What they got instead was a public relations disaster that has Democrats calling for investigations and moderate Republicans questioning the administration’s approach.
The senator’s demand for accountability reflects a broader concern among congressional Republicans that unforced errors are undermining legitimate policy victories. When the secretary of Homeland Security becomes the story rather than the policies she implements, something has gone fundamentally wrong.
Whether President Trump will heed Tillis’s call remains to be seen, but the North Carolina senator has made his position crystal clear. In his view, leadership requires more than commitment to the mission. It demands competence in execution and wisdom in communication, neither of which he believes Secretary Noem has demonstrated in this critical moment.
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