WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, today grilled Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem about how her mismanagement of taxpayer dollars and poor leadership over DHS have led to a complete loss of the American people’s confidence in her ability to lead the department and keep their families safe.
In his remarks, Senator Welch pressed Noem to apologize for inaccurately labeling Alex Pretti and Renee Good, American citizens who were shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, as, “domestic terrorists”:
Sen. Welch: On the question of Alex Pretti and Renee Good . . . knowing what you do know, do you want to take an opportunity to apologize to their families; that you characterized them—on the basis of the information you had at the time—that they were engaged in domestic terrorism?
Sec. Noem: I certainly offer my condolences to these families, and for their loss. It was a tragic situation that we saw in Minneapolis, and we continue to work to make sure those situations are handled appropriately.
Sen. Welch: That’s not an apology. Can I be precise in my question? I understand you’re offering condolences. You said something that accused them of being domestic terrorists: a 37-year-old mother of three; a 37-year-old veterans administration nurse. One question: Do you want to apologize for the characterization that they were domestic terrorists?
Sec. Noem: I will continue every day to get up and to work hard to give everybody factual information and do all I can to portray—
Sen. Welch: I want to move on.
Watch Senator Welch’s full remarks below:
The Senator also criticized Secretary. Noem for pledging to destroy FEMA rather than to reform the agency to better serve average Americans:
Sen. Welch: You said at a cabinet meeting on March 24th [2025] that: “We are going to eliminate FEMA.” Is that correct?
Sec. Noem: Eliminate FEMA as we know it, that it was no longer going to be a politicized disaster response agency, that President Trump was going to ensure it was there to respond—
Sen. Welch: We need FEMA reform. The people of Vermont have suffered. We had floods in July of 2023, 2024, and 2025. We need local control. We can’t have a FEMA that is abolished or a Secretary that promotes abolishing FEMA and not providing services that our citizens and all our states need when they’re on the receiving end of a monster storm.
Senator Welch has been outspoken in his opposition of Secretary Noem’s leadership of DHS. The Senator called for Noem’s resignation in July, citing her mishandling of FEMA and management of President Trump’s cruel and illegal mass deportation campaign. In January, Senator Welch led his colleagues in demanding that if Noem does not resign, she should be fired or impeached by Congress.
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