Dems target Noem after DHS shakeup
House Homeland Security Democrats will use a shadow hearing today to probe alleged DHS corruption, contracts, and conduct under Kristi Noem, signaling that oversight fights won’t end with her exit.
TODAY IN CONGRESS
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for waking up to Congress Nerd Sunrise. Get in touch: michael@onceuponahill.com.
A day after President Donald Trump swore in Markwayne Mullin as his new Secretary of Homeland Security, Democrats on the panel with oversight of the department will hold a shadow hearing this afternoon to dig into what they say is a pattern of corruption inside the Department of Homeland Security under Trump and the person Mullin replaced: former DHS head Kristi Noem.
Led by Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), House Homeland Security Committee Democrats plan to use the forum to scrutinize how taxpayer dollars were allegedly steered toward politically connected allies through insider contracts. Lawmakers will hear from watchdogs and policy experts who’ve been tracking DHS spending, focusing on what those decisions reveal about agency leadership and the broader implications for oversight, accountability, and public trust.
The hearing is the latest indication that Noem’s firing and reassignment by Trump to serve as the newly created special envoy for the Shield of the Americas failed to quell Democrats’ desire to probe into her use of DHS resources and personnel, including any politically motivated redeployments, contracting decisions, and adherence to federal law during the prolonged shutdown. Committee Democrats are also likely to want answers to broader questions about civil rights enforcement and agency mismanagement under her tenure.
“Even though you’re gone, that doesn’t forgive the things that you’ve done,” Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) told me last night. “It demonstrates a lack of oversight from the administration. It demonstrates that no one was watching the farm, pun intended, while she’s walking around with a $20,000 rented horse, $5,000 for makeup, and $220 million on promoting herself. These are all dollars that can go to real issues facing Americans.”
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who was indicted by a grand jury last year on charges brought by the Trump administration in connection with an attempted legal congressional oversight visit to a Newark ICE detention facility, told me that members, regardless of party, should take seriously their responsibility to hold their executive branch accountable.
“When we talk about Homeland Security, and especially around Trump’s hateful immigration policies and practices, I think we have to continue to shine a light on what is happening,” McIver said in a brief interview. “We’re doing it because that’s the job that the American people elected us to do.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who repeatedly called for Noem to be impeached or fired during the embattled former secretary’s tenure, said that the hearing is part of the Committee Democrats’ pursuit of justice.
“Kristi Noem no longer being the Secretary of Homeland does not bring back the lives that were lost as a result of her or the kids are going to live in trauma for the next 20 years,” Ramirez said. “I think it’s really important for us not to fall into the Republican talking point of, ‘Oh, she’s gone. It’s all gone.’ First of all, Mullin and Noem are the same people, different last names.”
Ramirez told me that shadow hearings, which are unauthorized by Republican leadership, provide members with opportunities to gather information as Democrats hope to reclaim the gavels in January after the midterms.
“I want [White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Stephen Miller. I want Kristi Noem. And I want all these criminals before our committees as we prepare to impeach them,” she said. “And then I want us to be able to create the condition so that the courts actually prosecute them.”
HAPPENINGS
All times Eastern.
Floor action
The House will meet at 10 a.m., with first votes expected at 1:30 p.m. on the rule to allow floor debate and final passage on four Republican bills. It will vote at 3 p.m. on a measure to codify President Trump’s “safe and beautiful D.C.” executive order by directing federal agencies to clean up and restore public spaces, boost law enforcement coordination, and establish a federal-led commission to improve safety and upkeep in the capital.
The Senate will meet at noon and resume debate on the SAVE America Act after leader remarks. It will vote on a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) to kill an IRS rule that tightened eligibility for clean energy tax credits.
Committee hearings
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing at 9:30 a.m. on the state of the bulk power system.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will hold an oversight hearing at 10 a.m. of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management with Director Scott Kupor.
The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. to assess the impacts of the DHS shutdown on Americans.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on arms control and international security for the modern age.
The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on combatting threats from the Chinese Communist Party to America’s small businesses.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet will hold an oversight hearing at 10 a.m. of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on quality of life in the military.
The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on modernizing U.S. capital markets.
The Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on Social Security.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on the war in Ukraine.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies will hold an oversight hearing at 11 a.m. of the National Weather Service.
The Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing at 1:30 p.m. on the rising scam economy.
The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold an oversight hearing at 2 p.m. on the critical mineral commodity supply chain.
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution will hold a hearing at 2 p.m. on protecting American citizenship.
The Senate Aging Committee will hold a hearing at 3:30 p.m. on seniors and the workforce.
News events
House Republicans and Democrats will hold their weekly conference and caucus meetings at 9 a.m.
House Republican leadership will hold a post-meeting press conference at 10 a.m. followed by House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) at 10:45 p.m.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. in opposition to supplemental funding for the war in Iran.
The House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency will hold a roundtable at 1:30 p.m. on eliminating duplicative federal programs.
House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Committee Democrats will hold a shadow hearing at 2 p.m. on corruption at the DHS.
Rep Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. to launch the Dignity Coalition.
President Trump will receive his intelligence briefing at 1 p.m., participate in policy meetings at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the White House and speak at the National Republican Congressional Committee at 7:20 p.m, at Union Station.
IN THE KNOW
— Democrats flipped two Republican-held seats in Florida special elections Tuesday, including a Palm Beach County state House district that encompasses Mar-a-Lago, where Emily Gregory won in a seat President Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024. In the Tampa area, Democrat Brian Nathan narrowly captured a state Senate seat, extending a recent pattern of Democratic overperformance in low-turnout contests ahead of the midterms.
— The Congressional Black Caucus endorsed a United Nations resolution led by Ghana that would classify the transatlantic trafficking and chattel enslavement of Africans as among the gravest crimes against humanity, aligning with a broader African Union push for reparations. The move, announced ahead of a U.N. day of remembrance, adds congressional backing to an international effort to frame slavery and its legacy as a basis for global accountability and redress.
— Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) reintroduced legislation to eliminate interest on all federal student loans and allow roughly 43 million borrowers to refinance existing and future loans at a zero percent rate. The bill, which Courtney and Welch say is budget-neutral through a federal trust fund financed by principal repayments, aims to reduce long-term costs for borrowers as student debt approaches $2 trillion nationwide.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
”Hakeem Jeffries explains his strategy to win the midterms” by Errol Louis: “‘Republicans are going to get crushed, as we’ve been seeing all across the country.’”
”’It’s personality theft’: How creators are fighting back against AI deepfakes” by Ella Chakarian: “As artificial intelligence becomes more accessible, podcasters, TikTokers, and other creators are finding replicas of themselves promoting companies they’ve never even heard of.”
”A’ja Wilson is just getting started” by Emma Carmichael: “Wilson on her championship season and what’s next.”