Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has attempted damage control after President Donald Trump blanked her in the first Cabinet meeting of the year.
While Noem was present at Trump’s Cabinet meeting on Thursday, he did not ask her to speak or even acknowledge her presence.
Noem, 54, has faced calls to resign or face impeachment after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis this month.
After being snubbed by Trump in the Cabinet, Noem posted on her X account to personally thank the 79-year-old for a bill he signed one year ago. Her department released a statement titled DHS Celebrates One Year of the Laken Riley Act.
The Laken Riley Act, signed on Jan. 29, 2025, is named after the 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered while she was jogging in Athens, Georgia on Feb. 22, 2024.
The act mandates detention of immigrants accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a. law enforcement officer and any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury.
Noem posted on Thursday night, “We can never bring Laken back, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice. I am so proud of what our brave men and women of ICE have done to remove these criminals from America’s streets.”
When contacted by the Daily Beast, DHS pointed to its statement, claiming that ICE has made 21,400 arrests using the Laken Riley Act’s powers and repeating Noem’s praise.
Noem also appeared on Fox News’ Hannity on Thursday where she attempted to put a positive spin on Trump parachuting his favored border czar Tom Homan into Minneapolis this week.
Trump pulled Border Patrol boss and Noem ally Gregory Bovino out of Minneapolis and replaced him with Homan in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.
“I am grateful that the president had to the wisdom to send Tom Homan there,” Noem claimed, stating that the border czar could negotiate with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over protecting ICE agents from protesting citizens.
“We have been asking them to do this for months and they have refused to agree,” Noem said. “We hope Tom has an opportunity to restart the conversations and see if we can get them to help clean up the streets of Minneapolis.”
The Fox host also asked Noem about Minority Leader of the U.S House of Representative Hakeem Jeffries calling Noem “disgraceful” on Thursday.
The Democrat stated of Noem, “She’s got to go. We are dead serious She needs to be put on ice permanently. She’s got to go.”
Noem deflected from Jeffries insisting she should stand down and again praised Trump.
“These radicals are attacking me when I’m just doing my job,” Noem said. “I’m following the law, enforcing the laws like President Trump promised that he would do, to keep people safe in this country.”
She added, “I am proud of the work the Department of Homeland Security does and I’m grateful and honored to be able to lead them during this time.”
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that Noem was doing a “very good job” and said she would keep her position.
