WASHINGTON — Eight additional Democrats signed on to an impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in the wake of the killing of Alex Pretti, bringing the total number of co-sponsors to 120, according to a spokesperson for the office of Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois.
Kelly’s impeachment resolution against Noem had garnered 100 co-sponsors as of Jan. 20, according to a press release, but the number spiked in recent days amid outcry over immigration enforcement practices as thousands of federal officers were deployed to Minnesota in what the administration has dubbed Operation Metro Surge.
“IMPEACH KRISTI NOEM,” the Democratic Party said on X Sunday.
The latest calls for Noem’s impeachment come as the Department of Homeland Security faces a fresh wave of scrutiny in the aftermath of two killings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said late last week that he would support efforts to impeach Noem. After Pretti was killed, Thompson said in a statement, “The House must immediately take steps to impeach Kristi Noem.”
Pretti’s killing “is sick and should shock all Americans,” he said in the statement.
“It is also more of the purposeful chaos and violence that Trump and Kristi Noem welcome and are responsible for,” he continued. “Trump and Noem have blood on their hands.”
Several other Democrats called for Noem to resign.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida posted on X that Noem must resign, saying that the department “is telling us not to trust our own eyes.”
“They can’t be trusted to investigate these killings,” she said.
Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Peter Welch of Vermont were among the lawmakers who previously called on Noem to resign, and they reiterated their calls after Pretti’s killing.
“The President needs to remove these federal agents from our cities now,” Bennet said in a post to X. “Kristi Noem must resign and the dehumanizing policies must end immediately.”
Welch, meanwhile, referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as “an agency that has become a paramilitary force terrorizing American communities.”
Other Democrats who have called for Noem’s resignation include Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York and Gavin Newsom of California, and Reps. Marc Veasey of Texas and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania.
After Pretti was killed, Noem alleged he had approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. However, eyewitness videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a gun in the moments before his death. Local officials have said that he had a permit to carry a gun.
Earlier this month, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed in her car by a federal officer.
Shortly after her death, Noem claimed that Good tried to “kill or to cause bodily harm to agents, an act of domestic terrorism.” Cellphone videos, though, cast doubts on Noem’s explanation, and witnesses said they believed Good was trying to drive away from the officers.
Several Democratic senators also announced that they would not vote for an appropriations bill that included funding for DHS. If the bill does not pass the Senate by the end of the month, the government could face a partial shutdown.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Adam Schiff of California said in interviews on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that they would be among the Democrats who would vote against an appropriations bill that included funds for DHS.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a Saturday statement that “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”
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