NC’s Thom Tillis calls for Kristi Noem’s removal — and not just over Minneapolis
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- DHS released $233 million for Helene, but Tillis called it overdue amid $17B hold-up.
- Tillis blamed Noem’s review rule for FEMA slowdowns and stalled Helene reimbursements.
- Tillis urges Noem’s removal, citing leadership failures after Minneapolis shooting.
Sen. Thom Tillis is calling for the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying her policies have “inflicted needless pain” on vulnerable people.
He and fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska both began calling for Noem’s resignation Tuesday following the death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse killed by federal agents over the weekend in Minneapolis.
Pretti was filming Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with his cellphone and placed himself between agents and a woman they shoved to the ground. The agents sprayed Pretti with pepper spray and shot him multiple times at close range.
“It’s not a secret that I have problems with the secretary of Homeland Security and the way that her failed leadership has led to unconscionable results in Minneapolis,” Tillis said. “I thank the president for putting an adult in charge who actually knows law enforcement by having Mr. Homan go there.”
Tillis said he believed Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, could “lower the temperature” in Minneapolis and keep law enforcement and the city safe.
But that wasn’t the main focus of Tillis’ criticism of Noem on Thursday.
Instead, it was on Helene relief and recovery.
“Another part of the secretary of Homeland Security’s job is disaster response, and I cannot tell you enough how incompetent, based on the facts, that she is on that score,” Tillis said. “The people of Western North Carolina, the people of eastern Tennessee, the people of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, who were affected by Helene deserve better. No reasonable business person would accept this in the C-suite. She needs to get out of the C-suite.”
‘Long overdue’ Helene funding
Tillis’ remarks come just 24 hours after the Department of Homeland Security released to North Carolina $233 million in Helene-related reimbursements, which Tillis acknowledged in his floor speech.
“That’s great news,” Tillis said. “And their resources are severely needed in Western North Carolina. However, when you dig into the details of the announcement, it becomes clear that this money is long overdue.”
He pointed out these are reimbursements for expenses which communities incurred just in the first six months of recovery. Helene hit North Carolina in September 2024, causing widespread damage and at least 108 deaths in North Carolina alone.
Both of North Carolina’s senators, Tillis and Ted Budd, have been critical of Noem’s leadership because she requires any Federal Emergency Management Agency spending over $100,000 to be reviewed by her personally before it can be paid out. That has caused a backlog in relief money being released.
Budd, who like Tillis, is a Republican, blocked the nominations of some DHS officials from the Senate floor in order to get reimbursements off Noem’s desk.
On Wednesday, Budd thanked Trump for “his consistent support for Western North Carolina” in getting the funding released, but did not acknowledge Noem by name.
“Communities across Western North Carolina have fronted millions of dollars to clear and repair damage caused by Hurricane Helene,” Budd said in a news release Wednesday. “I’ve continued to engage with the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA to expedite the release of federal aid for recovery and repairs that have been stalled, and I am proud to announce that another $233 million is on the way.”
But Tillis, speaking on the floor Thursday, quoted a New York Times article that stated $17 billion in relief funding around the country is held up by Noem’s policy.
Tillis said Noem’s review process has “indefinitely prolonged disaster recovery efforts” around the United States and “inflicted needless pain onto already vulnerable communities and people.”
He reminded the Senate that Noem visited Bat Cave early in Trump’s second term and announced that the Biden administration failed in many areas, and they would learn from that and do better. She promised to remove red tape that slowed the previous administration down.
“The data clearly shows that something is seriously wrong here,” Tillis said. “Under Secretary Noem’s lack of leadership, FEMA has invented an entirely new set of bureaucracies, the likes of which I’ve never seen, and I’m in a state that deals with a disaster almost every season. We’re about to have another one, potentially this weekend, and we're just recovering from an ice storm last weekend, and I’ve got this to deal with. What do I tell my citizens of Western North Carolina?”
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 1:59 PM.
