Noem and Moreno revive 'sex change operations for illegal immigrants' attack against Democrats
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, asked Noem, "How about sex change operations for illegals? How many of those would you suspect that you would fund?"
In response, Noem said, "Senator, I believe that the DHS will be re-evaluating its mission moving forward to not allow that."
Moreno was reviving a line from a Trump campaign ad that ran on TV throughout the country last fall, in which Trump claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris supports "taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners."
In fact, gender-affirming treatment, like gender-affirming surgery and hormone therapy, is offered to inmates when it is deemed medically necessary. That would mean that illegal immigrants who are detained in the federal prison system would have access to gender-affirming care if it was deemed necessary for them by medical professionals.
This is the same standard of care that was offered to prisoners under the first Trump administration. But, the standard of care applies to a relatively small number of prisoners. Only two federal inmates have been approved for gender-affirming surgeries, according to The New York Times, and there is no indication that either were illegal immigrants.
Noem blames Gavin Newsom for L.A. wildfires
Newsom is in part to blame for the outcome of the wildfires in L.A., Noem said, saying there was a “failure in leadership” in California.
“I wish we would have had different leadership or a different governor in California,” she said, saying that could have led to a different outcome. At least 27 people have died as a result of the fire with thousands of homes and other buildings destroyed. Newsom has pushed back on similar blame from Trump.
Senators have been in and out of hearing to vote on Laken Riley bill
Senators have been in and out of the Noem hearing to vote on amendments to the Laken Riley legislation, which was named after the Georgia college student who was murdered in February 2024 by an undocumented immigrant.
Noem claims remote work hampers FEMA's disaster response
During her testimony, Noem blamed "many of the agencies" within DHS for "not showing up" because of remote work.
"I've heard since being nominated for this position that many of the agencies within the department are not showing up. They're not doing their jobs," Noem said after thanking Sen. Joni Ernst for asking about remote work.
"Even FEMA, who is responsible for disaster response, that they have the alternative some of these employees to not even respond to a disaster, which might explain the horrific results that we saw in North Carolina when they had such a terrible disaster that impacted families and communities, and FEMA failed them so miserably," Noem added, joining other Republicans who have blamed FEMA for not adequately responding to the hurricanes in North Carolina and Georgia last year.
It’s unclear what she’s referring to in terms of the hurricane response, though she has generally been very critical that too many DHS employees are working from home.
Noem doesn't clearly say whether she or Tom Homan would have control over the border
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., asked Noem about how her role as DHS secretary, if confirmed, would differ from the job Tom Homan is set to have as Trump's border czar.
"Tom Holman is an incredible human being who has over 30 years of experience," Noem said.
Asked who would be giving orders to agencies like Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Noem said, "Tom Homan has a direct line to the president. He is an adviser to the president."
"I actually want to make sure that we’re empowering the next secretary of homeland security," said Kim, who said he had seen comments from Homan indicating that he would be the one making final decisions about the border and deportation.
Noem said, "Tom and I work very well together and talk and communicate all the time, and we’ll be working together on a daily basis, when we’re in our positions under the new administration, and I would say there’s no authorities being planned to be taken away from the department or myself if I’m in the role."
NBC News reported Thursday that if confirmed, Noem's role as homeland security secretary is expected to be more limited in scope than her predecessors, sources familiar with the Trump transition said.
Noem refuses to say whether she would withhold disaster relief if Trump asked
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pressed Noem on whether she would withhold critical disaster relief to states in need if Trump asked her to do so, noting that Trump has threatened to withhold relief to California in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires over a political spat with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“We won’t give him money to put out all his fires,” Trump said about Newsom in September. “And, if we don’t give him the money to put out his fires. He’s got problems. He’s a lousy governor.”
“The specter is there of potential discrimination based on politics withholding money from California or other states. It’s not an unfounded fear,” Blumenthal said, noting public reports in Trump’s last administration of his withholding disaster aid to the state of Washington over disagreements with then-Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
Noem did not answer the question directly, saying instead that “leadership has consequences.” Noem then added the DHS would inflict “no political bias” on its distribution of disaster relief to the American people.
Pressing Noem for a yes or no answer, Blumenthal asked, “If President Trump were to say to you, we’re going to withhold money from Connecticut or Michigan or any of the states, Iowa, because we don’t like the governor or we don’t like the politics of the state, you would stand up to him and say, ‘Mr. President, we need to allocate that money’?"
Noem again delivered an indirect answer, saying she could not subject herself to hypotheticals.
Noem says states should oversee refugee resettlement
Noem said states should have jurisdiction over refugee resettlement after Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., asked her about breakdowns in communication between the federal government and governors surrounding the issue.
Noem said she raised concerns as South Dakota governor about how refugees were being vetted, and claimed she received “no information” from the Biden administration.
“In fact, they kept us in the dark and didn’t communicate to us even what states and where those refugees were being placed,” Noem said. “That is something that we need to change. When we have programs that fall under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security, there needs to be communication, especially with the governor, so that we can coordinate to ensure that it’s the right thing for that state.”
Blumenthal warns Noem not to 'take our eye off the ball' when it comes to monitoring terrorism
Blumenthal warned Noem "let’s not take our eye off the ball" when it comes to focusing on the threat of terrorism since she's made clear that her priority is addressing the southern border.
"I know there’s a lot of focus on the border," Blumenthal said. "We all want more border security. We want to stop migrant crime, but let’s not take our eye off the ball. The governor of Louisiana, for the Super Bowl, ought to be really riveted on the potential for homegrown terrorism as a threat."
Blumenthal added, "I hope that you will help him and other governors to do their duty to protect the people of the United States from that homegrown terrorist threat."
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is sitting in on Noem's confirmation hearing. The state recently faced a domestic terrorist attack in New Orleans during New Year's celebrations. The Super Bowl will be held in the city in early February.
Hawley addresses migrant crime in his questioning
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., brought up in his line of questioning instances of crimes involving undocumented immigrants, including the death of a 12-year-old in his state, Travis Wolf, who Hawley said was "killed just over a year ago by an illegal migrant who mowed him down."
"There’s so many families in this country that have that same story, and they don’t understand why the federal government is allowing people to come into this country illegally and then perpetuate crimes against their people and then give them resources and shelter and food and debit cards to go take care of their families when they go to work every single day," Noem said. New York City ended its pilot program that provided migrants staying in city-funded hotels with pre-paid debit cards for necessities last November.
A National Institute of Justice-funded study published last September in Texas found that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens.
Noem promises greater transparency, says response to N.J. drone sightings sowed mistrust
Noem promised to restore a broken sense of trust in the federal government if confirmed and said a lack of transparency around the sightings of mystery drones in New Jersey last year typified what she charged was a failure to respond to pressing questions from the public.
“People don’t trust the federal government,” Noem said. “They don’t trust our leadership and this current administration that’s in the White House right now to tell them the truth.”
Of the drones, she said, “this was something they were questioning, and that they deserved answers.”
Noem said Trump would change this.