The News
The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement response, starting with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, is under siege from congressional Republicans.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., want Noem gone, with Tillis deeming her “out of her depth” and concluding that “her failure of leadership is casting a pall over” broader immigration enforcement.
“It’s the president’s decision, but I think there’s got to be a level of accountability,” Murkowski said.The breaks don’t stop there. Several GOP senators disagreed with President Donald Trump’s Tuesday comments that Alex Pretti shouldn’t have had his gun where the 37-year-old Minnesota nurse was killed by federal agents.
Republicans also panned suggestions by top officials that Pretti was a domestic terrorist — “I don’t call him” that, said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
What’s more, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Noem directly on Monday to pause operations in Maine and Minnesota. Senate Majority Leader John Thune called Pretti’s killing “an opportunity to evaluate and to really assess the policies and the procedures and how they’re being implemented and put into practice.”
The growing internal blowback from a party that spent 2025 mostly falling in line with Trump and his immigration policies marks a clear pivot in Washington as Republicans face grim polling numbers ahead of the midterms. It may not bring much personnel change to the administration, however — Trump publicly affirmed his confidence in Noem on Tuesday — or spare the Hill from a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.
Trump is acutely aware of the fallout Pretti’s death has caused, and he’s taken steps to shift the administration’s response in Minneapolis: The president on Monday tapped his border czar Tom Homan to mediate with local officials and oversee ICE and CBP in the state.
The president also moved Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino out of Minnesota and has been more careful than some of his own advisers in discussing Pretti’s death — including by repeatedly saying he’s waiting for the investigation to play out.
“The feedback from Hill Republicans has been very positive,” said one senior White House official on the response to Trump’s recent tonal shift in Minnesota.
But conservatives have also blanched at some of the Trump administration’s suggestions that Pretti shouldn’t have been armed. Republican Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., said that “Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, and the mere possession of a firearm does not represent a threat justifying lethal force.”
In addition to Trump repeating that Pretti shouldn’t have had a gun, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt — while arguing that Trump “absolutely” supports Second Amendment rights — said that if “you are confronted by law enforcement” while carrying a firearm, “you are raising the assumption of risk and the risk of force being used against you.”
Thune took a different view: “One, it’s a constitutional right. Two, it’s legal under the laws in the state of Minnesota. My understanding was, perhaps, that he didn’t have an ID, but with that exception, I think he was in compliance with the laws and he has a constitutional right.”
The scrutiny will only continue. Top immigration officials will appear before House and Senate panels in February, and Republicans are indicating they may not go easy. Asked if he has confidence in Noem, Senate Homeland Security Chair Rand Paul, R-Ky., said “we’re going to find out.”
“I don’t know how we can have people in the government saying that this man assaulted police officers when there’s no evidence that that happened,” Paul added.
“If you’re an American, you deserve to know if you go outside and protest, what is it that you could be killed for. What is an assault on a police officer? Is taking a video of a police officer, is that an assault?”
In this article:
Know More
Trump said on Tuesday he is trying to deescalate in Minnesota even as he insists that the administration is not retreating. The president spent the weekend on calls relating to Pretti’s death, and is looking to balance a continued hardline approach to illegal immigration while also lowering tensions in the state.
“You have to have cooperation with cities and states. And we didn’t see that in Minnesota. So I hope the president and Gov. Walz are going to work together on that now,” said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.
Trump is also facing renewed internal criticism of Noem — or in some cases, Republicans like Thune and Paul declining to endorse her. He told Fox News on Tuesday he still has confidence in Noem, and pointed to her efforts at the start of his administration to close the border. Asked by reporters whether Noem will step down, he very simply answered: “No.”
Those comments came after Trump held a two-hour meeting with Noem at the White House on Monday night. The White House official said Trump and his spokespeople have been “clear” about Trump’s support of Noem.
“She doesn’t work for me. She works for the president. So I’m going to leave that to him. What else are we going to do?” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
Room for Disagreement
Many Republicans are leaning on their calls for an independent investigation into what happened to Pretti before passing judgment about the Trump administration’s tactics. (There are no signs that such an investigation will occur.)
“It’s hard to get a good feel for that, because we’re getting glimpses of certain tactics in certain places with certain teams,” Lankford said.
“We don’t have the full context of what the protesters are doing. They’ve got whistles, they’re yelling, they’ve got people interfering with them. It’s a hard situation for the law enforcement folks. But it is their responsibility to be professional for the entire time.”