U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security," on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 3, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Conservative analysts at The Bulwark were floored on Tuesday after watching Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Noem appeared before the committee on Tuesday to answer questions about her agency and some of the decisions she has made as its leader. Republicans and Democrats showed a rare sign of bipartisan unity by sharply questioning Noem about DHS's marketing expenses, some of the contracts the agency has awarded to people close to Noem's inner circle, and the agency's investigations into the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were killed during "Operation Metro Surge" in Minneapolis.
Sam Stein, Jonathan Last, and Andrew Egger of The Bulwark reacted to Noem's testimony in a new podcast video on Tuesday night.
One moment that set off Last was when Noem tried to deflect blame for labeling Good and Pretti as "domestic terrorists" after they were killed. Noem testified that she was relying on information from agents on the ground, and said their acts "appeared to be domestic terrorism."
"Well, if so, have those agents been fired? Because they lied to you and made you look like a f------ idiot," Last said. He called Noem a "frozen-faced f------ ghoul" for making those comments in front of Pretti's parents.
Egger said the spectacle was "unbelievable."
"You harmed them by immediately getting out there and smearing them in this way," Egger said. "And they said that was actually maybe the most painful thing, seeing their government do that. What's she going to say? There's a reason why some Republicans want to hang her out to dry for this."