Thom Tillis sets Kristi Noem on fire for ICE and killing her dog

WASHINGTON – Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) went toe-to-toe with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for her “failure of leadership,” not only in the federal agencies she oversees but also for her past decisions to kill her dog and a goat.

Tillis, who voted to confirm Noem to her position last year, was furious when he questioned her during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. She appeared before the panel as part of the Senate’s oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Administration.

He criticized his leadership at ICE, where he said he is “missing an opportunity” to focus his work on apprehending criminals in the country illegally. Instead, it has caused ICE agents to prioritize detaining large numbers of people.

“Quality matters, not quantity!” the Republican senator shouted. “What we have seen is a disaster under your leadership, Mrs. Noem! A disaster! What we have seen is the detention of innocent people who happen to be American citizens!”

Tillis then turned to FEMA, criticizing Noem’s “incompetent” policy that she must personally approve any disaster aid to states totaling more than $100,000. His policy has caused serious delays in federal aid in North Carolina, which is trying to rebuild after suffering nearly $60 billion in damage after Hurricane Helene devastated the state in 2024.

“People are hurting in Western North Carolina because of the biggest storm they have ever experienced!” he said, holding up a sign describing FEMA’s efficiency in recent years in getting aid to disaster areas. “This is what we need more of. I’m convinced it can’t be done.”

Noem tried to speak, but Tillis said she wasn’t finished. He mentioned Minneapolis, where the Trump administration has focused its aggressive mass deportation efforts. Thousands of DHS agents have spent the last few months hunting immigrants in the state, inflicting trauma, violence and even killing two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, on communities.

“Why can’t we just say, ‘We made a mistake?’” Tillis asked Noem, who earlier in the hearing repeatedly refused to admit that she wrongly called Good and Pretti “domestic terrorists” after they were shot and killed by immigration agents.

“The failure to admit a mistake that appears to be under investigation will demonstrate that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and back!” Tillis shouted. “Law enforcement needs to learn from that! You can’t protect them if you don’t pay attention to the facts!”

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It wasn’t over yet. He mentioned that he recently read Noem’s book about 2024, “No Going Back,” and was disturbed by a passage about how she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog, Cricket. Noem describes Cricket in the book as “untrainable” and “less than useless” after he ruined a hunting trip by attacking a neighbor’s chickens.

“I train dogs, okay?” the North Carolina senator shouted at Noem. “You’re a farmer. You should know better. You should know that if you go to a hunting lodge and take out pheasants and dogs, don’t take a puppy there!”

He criticized Noem for not understanding that a 14-month-old dog is “basically a dog-age teenager.”

“You decided to kill that dog because you hadn’t invested the proper time and training!” Tillis shouted, as Noem sat silently, shaking her head. “And then you have the audacity to read a book and say it’s a leadership lesson in difficult decisions!”

The senator also mentioned how Noem talks about killing a goat in her book, something else he said she shouldn’t have done.

“You killed a goat because you said it was misbehaving,” he said. “You are a farmer. [If] You don’t castrate a goat, they misbehave! You probably should have done that sooner!

Tillis added: “My point is: Those are bad decisions made in the heat of the moment, not unlike what happened in Minneapolis.”

Before his time ran out, the North Carolina senator vowed to block action against all of Trump’s nominees unless he gets answers from DHS about immigration enforcement in North Carolina. And if he doesn’t get answers in the next two weeks, he said he will block nominees from Senate committees as well.

He accused Noem of obstructing this issue: “That is a failure of leadership,” he told her. “And that is why I have asked for his resignation.”

During the hours-long hearing, other senators pressed the DHS secretary over her false accusations that Pretti and Good were “domestic terrorists,” questioned excessive use of force by ICE agents and demanded details about the Noem-linked company that secretly obtained money from $220 million in DHS advertising contracts.

News themezone caught up with Tillis after his fiery comments. He still seemed furious.

“He’s making rash decisions, and that’s fine if you’re killing a dog or a goat on a farm,” he said. “It’s not right that people are dying because law enforcement agencies are not using the kind of temper that they should to get it right.”

Igor Bobic contributed reporting.