Left: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference in New York, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura). Right: Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., arrives to speak to reporters about her call for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite).
A group of congressional representatives has filed articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, alleging she has violated her oath of office and "brought her reign of terror" to communities across the U.S.
To hear the members of Congress — led by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill. — tell it, Noem has obstructed Congress, violated the Constitution, and used her position "for personal gain."
"Secretary Noem has brought her reign of terror to Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, and communities from north to south, east to west. She needs to be impeached for her actions," Kelly said at a press conference announcing the impeachment effort. "Secretary Noem has called my impeachment effort 'silly.' I want to tell her right now: You have violated your oath of office and there will be consequences."
"I am watching you," said the representative, whose congressional district includes portions of Chicago and its southern suburbs. "The American people are watching you. And most of all, we are not liking what we are seeing. If you believe impeachment is 'silly,' then you are not taking your job or our Constitution seriously."
The impeachment resolution breaks down each article it introduces. First, it says Noem has obstructed Congress by preventing representatives from entering Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facilities in breach of the 2024 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The secretary also allegedly contravened the bill when she "implemented a scheme" to require members of Congress to give notice of at least seven days before visiting a DHS detention facility.
The resolution proceeds to list six alleged examples of representatives being barred from visiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. ICE is an agency under the umbrella of DHS. Noem is also accused of withholding funding allocated by Congress for two Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs in violation of the Impoundment Control Act.
The representatives also allege that Noem has "repeatedly" violated the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Constitution through "widespread warrantless arrests" by ICE agents, the alleged forgoing of due process, and "violence against United States citizens, lawful residents, and other individuals."
Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., who co-sponsored the resolution, was scathing in her assessment of Noem's conduct, saying this "behavior doesn't happen in a vacuum; it's a failure of leadership that begins at the top."
"From Portland to Minneapolis to Chicago, our communities have been used as training grounds for increasingly brazen, militarized federal agents who act without fear of being accountable to the law," Dexter said. "Under Kristi Noem, oversight has been obstructed, excessive force normalized, transparency abandoned, and due process disregarded. Oregonians have had enough. I am using my authority to hold Kristi Noem accountable for the utter lawlessness she has unleashed on our communities."
This "utter lawlessness" is typified by an ICE agent's Jan. 7 fatal shooting of a Minneapolis mother who was driving her vehicle and "attempting to get out of the way of agents," the resolution says, also naming four other incidents. And they say that "[d]espite video showing" 37-year-old Renee Good moving away from officers in the Minneapolis shooting, Noem "is claiming publicly that the officer was in danger" when he fired the shots.
But Noem has gone even further, the lawmakers allege. She has "misused her position for personal gain while inappropriately using $200 million taxpayer dollars to fund an ad campaign for ICE recruitment," Kelly claimed, pointing to the awarding of a contract to a nascent firm run by the husband of Noem's "close friend," DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin.
A DHS spokesperson called the impeachment effort "silly," as Kelly alluded to at her press conference.
"How silly during a serious time," the spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill, claiming ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them. "Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district."
Kelly's office said more than 70 members of Congress have co-sponsored her legislation.
Filing articles of impeachment merely signifies the introduction of formal allegations against a government official for suspected wrongdoing. For an official to be removed from office, the House of Representatives would have to adopt the articles by a simple majority vote, leading to the Senate holding a trial in which two-thirds of senators would have to vote to convict.
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