Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has become the first Senate Republican to publicly call for the immediate firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, stating that her handling of a recent deadly incident should be completely “disqualifying,” as reported by The Hill. Tillis is furious over Noem’s actions following the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was shot multiple times by a Border Patrol agent.
Over the weekend, Noem jumped to conclusions and labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist” without providing any evidence whatsoever to back up that explosive claim. The North Carolina senator didn’t mince words about the consequences of her rash statement. “What she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job,” he insisted.
According to Tillis, President Trump won heavily on a strong message concerning immigration policy, but he argues that Noem’s incompetence is totally undercutting that success. “It’s just amateur-ish. It’s terrible. It’s making the president look bad on policy that he won on,” he stated. “Now, nobody’s talking about that. … They’re talking about the incompetence of the leader of the Homeland Security [Department].”
Tillis is worried about the political damage Noem is inflicting on the administration
Tillis also pointed a finger at Stephen Miller, a top aide to the president, grouping him with Noem for their quick, unsubstantiated characterization of the slain man. “Those two people told the president before they even had an incident report whatsoever that the person who died was a terrorist. That is amateur hour at its worst,” Tillis said. He added that Noem was among those responsible for “squandering the opportunity” to codify positive parts of the administration’s immigration efforts.
Noem’s initial remarks immediately after Pretti’s death were shocking. She claimed, without evidence, that Pretti was brandishing a gun and was trying “to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.” Video footage, however, tells a wildly different story.
The footage shows Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse at a Minneapolis-area Veterans Affairs hospital, holding only his cellphone in one hand, with his other hand empty, right before an officer pepper-sprayed him and pushed him to the ground. In fact, the footage even shows that one law enforcement officer pulled away the permitted gun Pretti was carrying on his beltline before two other officers fired approximately ten shots at him while he was kneeling and then lying on the pavement.
You have to wonder, as Tillis did, “What sort of judgment is that for somebody who’s running a very consequential and important organization?” Tillis didn’t stop with Noem; he also heaped criticism on Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander at-large who has since been removed from his post. Tillis was blunt about Bovino’s future, saying he “needs to go back to California, get his retirement papers and go.”
The senator believes the department needs to “de-escalate there and treat these communities with some respect.” The senator has already “communicated” his deep concerns about Noem directly to President Trump and the White House. He stressed that he thinks “she’s out of her depth, she’s proven that. She doesn’t know how to lead, how to de-escalate. She’s exposing ICE officers to dangerous situations, she’s exposing U.S. citizens to deadly situations.”
Published: Jan 28, 2026 11:00 am