Alaska’s senior Senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, told reporters on Jan. 27 that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should “probably” step down. Murkowski is one of a handful of Senate Republicans calling for further investigation into the killing of U.S. citizens by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement personnel and ICE conduct in Minneapolis.
She is the second Republican in the U.S. Senate, after Thom Tillis of North Carolina, to call for Noem’s resignation.
“She has, through her words — and I think in her actions — she’s taken a direction that has not been helpful to the situation, and I don’t think that it helps the country,” Murkowski said.
“Accountability goes all the way to the top, and I think you have a secretary right now that needs to be accountable to the chaos and in some of the tragedy that we have seen,” she added.
“What she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job,” said Tillis.
Murkowski’s comments come after a massive surge of federal agents has been operating in Minneapolis as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Their actions include an unknown number of arrests and two fatal shootings in three weeks, prompting widespread protests.
Murkowski voted to confirm Noem’s appointment last January. Noem faces mounting bipartisan criticism after House Democrats co-sponsored articles of impeachment against her.
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich III did not immediately respond to questions about Noem’s leadership from the Alaska Beacon on Jan. 27.
Murkowski has not supported calls from a faction of progressive Democrats in Congress to defund the Department of Homeland Security. She voted in support of the Republican-drafted budget package earlier this year that sent almost $85 billion to the agency, giving it a larger budget than the U.S. Marine Corps.
“You’ve got all these cries to say, ‘We can’t give another penny to ICE.’ Well, the fact of the matter is ICE has the resources that they will need. What it comes down to is: What are they doing with the money? And that’s where it comes to the management, that’s when it comes to who is controlling it, that’s when it comes to who is ultimately in charge and accountable,” she said.
Corinne Smith and James Brooks contributed reporting to this story. The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
