Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he had placed a hold on all Department of Homeland Security nominees after Secretary Kristi Noem repeatedly declined to testify before the Senate.
"I'd simply like the Homeland Security Secretary to respond to what are now two requests by the chairman to come before the committee," Tillis told Semafor correspondent Burgess Everett, "and that's the reason why I placed the blanket hold before the shooting yesterday on anything related to Homeland Security until such time as she does that."
Tillis' decision to block DHS nominees apparently came before an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. Noem suggested that Good was a domestic terrorist just hours after she was shot to death in her car.
Tillis has long been critical of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) lack of action in his home state.
"I know that we're going through a transformation at Homeland Security and in FEMA, but right now, we're behind the eight ball on past storms, and we need to get their attention and cut through the red tape, get it done," the senator said in October.