U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attends a House Judiciary Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security" to testify, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
President Donald Trump just gave Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a big "vote of no confidence," according to one GOP senator.
Noem sat for two days of questioning in the House and Senate this week, and faced considerable criticism for her handling of Trump's deportation operations and other misdeeds at DHS. But there was one moment where Noem revealed that the president has lost faith in her leadership, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said on Wednesday.
Tillis joined CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead" to discuss Noem's testimony.
Tillis asked Noem who Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, reports to at DHS. Noem said Homan reports to the president, not her. That was a revealing exchange, the senator told Tapper.
"If there is no better example of a vote of no confidence, as somebody who was in front when the [Alex] Pretti incident occurred, and now she, who is the head of Homeland Security, is replaced by somebody for the Homeland Security mission who doesn't actually even work for the Secretary of Homeland Security," Tillis said. "That's a vote of no confidence, in my opinion, by the president."