Senate Democrats aggressively questioned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday, presenting a more united front than they mustered in earlier oversight hearings.
House Democrats didn’t present much coordinated resistance in several high-profile hearings with cabinet officials earlier this month, as party officials grappled with how best to push back against the Trump administration and frustrated constituents demanded Democrats do more.
Noem got off relatively easy then, but her experience facing the Senate on Tuesday was quite different. After months of attempts, Democrats may have found their footing on how to approach an issue Republicans have hammered them on for years.
The most eye-catching moments during the hearing came as several Democratic senators questioned Noem about habeas corpus, which White House adviser Stephen Miller said the administration was “actively looking” at suspending as part of a crackdown on unauthorized immigration. Habeas corpus is a legal principle that allows people to challenge their detention by the government.
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In the hearing, Noem botched the definition, saying that Article I of the Constitution allows the president to suspend the protection.
“It’s really important to get this right,” Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, said. “Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like [North] Korea.”
After correcting her definition, Hassan asked Noem whether she supports it.
“I support habeas corpus,” Noem said. “I also recognize that the president of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.”
Multiple other senators pointed out that the president needs the approval of Congress to suspend habeas corpus. Sen. Andy Kim later asked Noem to confirm whether she understood that the president could not act unilaterally.
Noem pointed to President Abraham Lincoln, who suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War without Congress, which retroactively approved the action.
“I believe that any president that was able to do that in the past, it should be afforded to our current-day president,” she said. “This president has never said he’s going to do this, he’s never communicated to me or his administration that they’re going to consider suspending habeas corpus, but I do think the Constitution allows them the right to consider it.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin said Noem’s answers were concerning.
“You sat here in front of all of us and swore an oath to the Constitution, and that is not at all what habeas corpus is,” Slotkin said.
Slotkin tied the issue to her concern over the arrest and apprehension of U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents and student visa holders.
“My concern is, it’s complete overreach,” she said. “I don’t think American citizens, even those who voted for Trump, believe that you should be able to just grab someone off the street.”
The Trump administration is defending itself in court over multiple alleged violations of due process, including its attempt to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans without court hearings and its efforts to deport migrants to nations other than their countries of origin.
Democrats clearly thought due process concerns were a winning issue. They also pushed hard on budget issues, with multiple bringing up the significant increase in funds the Department of Homeland Security has requested for the next budget.
“This is ripe for DOGE. Why is DOGE not down there?” Sen. Gary Peters said of DHS’s use of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp
Sen. Richard Blumenthal listed some of the requests and spending, including “$200 million for an ad campaign fawning over Trump’s supposed accomplishments, $21 million between January and April for transporting around 400 immigrants to Guantánamo Bay — about half of them were flown back to the United States — $6 million to El Salvador to imprison 300 individuals in a prison known for grave human-rights violations.”
“You’re just spending recklessly, and it would seem wastefully, without authorization. That’s against the law,” Blumenthal added.
“I completely disagree with you,” Noem responded. “What I’m doing is making sure we’re enforcing our laws.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego also got into a testy exchange with Noem over the budget.
“Your department is overspending right now. It’s on track to run out of money again by mid-July,” he said. “At the same time though, you recently requested a $50 million allotment for a Gulfstream jet.”
Noem responded that her department is “spending [its] dollars appropriately and will be on budget.” She said the jet would be for the Coast Guard.
Gallego then questioned if she’d be using the new jet.
“I don’t know if I would use that one or if I would use the other one, I have no idea, but I do spend time out there with our components,” Noem responded.
“We’ve seen the Instagram photos,” Gallego said.
“They’ve meant the world to the individuals at the Department of Homeland Security, they have meant the world to our ICE agents,” Noem replied.
It wasn’t just Democrats who expressed concern over DHS’s budget request. Two Republican senators also expressed concern, spelling trouble for its approval process in a Congress with slim Republican majorities.
“We’re $37 trillion in debt,” Sen. Ron Johnson said, specifically about the department’s request for money to build more border wall. “I’m just gonna ask that you and the department sharpen your pencil on that wall request. I think it’s more than you need.”
Sen. Rand Paul shared a similarly skeptical sentiment.
“You’re controlling 95% of the border without a wall right now. So that’s an argument that maybe you don’t need a wall, you needed willpower,” he said. “I know the wall has great symbolic value, but I think we should reassess.”
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Casey Murray is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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