WA GOP congressman supports Noem firing; 'Good riddance,' Dems say

Washington’s congressional delegation — Democrats as well as one Republican — was pleased with the firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Thursday, though Democrats said the department still needs significant reforms.

President Donald Trump announced Noem’s firing on social media while praising her work “especially on the Border” and naming her a “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a new initiative he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere. Trump named Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as his next pick to lead the department.

Noem has come under relentless criticism in recent weeks for the violent crackdown by immigration agents in Minnesota that led to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as for a $220 million DHS advertising campaign that largely featured herself.

The department has been partially shut down for three weeks, as Democrats have blocked funding, including on Thursday, unless it includes new measures to regulate immigration enforcement, including requiring agents to show identification and stop them from wearing masks.

Sen. Patty Murray, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said she had “no idea what is inside this president’s head” or what led to Noem’s firing.

“All I can tell you from my perspective is no one will miss her,” Murray said in an interview she posted to social media, adding the country needs a department that respects Americans.

Sen. Maria Cantwell said Noem “led DHS and ICE with an unpardonable disregard for American civil liberties, civil rights, local and state governments, and the Constitution.”

“Americans have the right to protest and speak freely and do so without fear of getting shot or being beaten by ICE agents,” Cantwell, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Noem allowed immigration enforcement officials to abuse their power and authority, making America less secure, not more.”

And while Washington Democrats have been persistent critics of Noem, the reaction of Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, was perhaps more surprising.

Newhouse, who after the fatal shooting of Pretti said “things have gotten out of hand” and “a lot of questions need to be answered,” praised the firing of Noem Thursday.

“A change in leadership at the Department of Homeland Security was long overdue,” he wrote on social media. “I look forward to working with Senator Mullin, a great choice, in his new role as Secretary. The immediate task at hand is funding the department and its vital counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and border security programs.”

Trump has targeted Newhouse ever since the Central Washington representative voted to impeach him following the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Newhouse has fended off Trump-endorsed challengers in both of his elections since then, but is not running for reelection this year.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, said she had called for Noem to be fired, resign or be impeached “and now she has been.”

“Good riddance,” Jayapal said in a statement. “Kristi Noem has overseen a lawless DHS that killed two Americans in the street, put children in prison camps, separated families, detained U.S. citizens, led to 41 deaths in custody, and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars.”

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez on Thursday voted to reopen DHS, breaking from most Congressional Democrats.

Homeland Security’s funding has lapsed since mid-February amid the enduring stalemate. Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal, was one of four House Democrats to vote Thursday for the agency’s spending package, which lacks new curbs on the agency.

The vote mirrors the split in the House in January, before the outcry over Minneapolis compelled a shutdown. At the time, Gluesenkamp Perez was among seven House Democrats who broke party lines and voted for Homeland Security funding. She argued then that other services provided by the agency, including FEMA, are too critical to her community to risk shutting down.

She has previously called to replace Noem.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina, said it was “long past time” Noem was fired.

“The American people are demanding accountability & it doesn’t stop with one firing,” DelBene said in a statement. “That’s why I’m fighting for stronger legal guardrails & real oversight.”

Another Eastside Democrat, Rep. Kim Schrier, of Sammamish, said Noem’s removal “is just the start of a long list of changes needed at DHS.”

Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, credited millions of people who “spoke out against DHS’s reckless dehumanization of our immigrant communities, to protest the murder of American citizens, and to help your neighbors when they were too terrified to leave their homes.”

“Your voices made a difference,” she said in a statement.

Seattle Times D.C. correspondent Anumita Kaur contributed to this report.