Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem is in "completely over her head at her new job," leaving the country more vulnerable than ever to external and internal threats, argued editor Hayes Brown in a new piece for MSNBC.
"With her focus turned almost exclusively toward executing President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy at all costs," Brown wrote, "the Department of Homeland Security has become a threat to our rights and liberties — many of which Noem apparently doesn’t even know Americans possess."
Brown cited Tuesday's Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing where Noem was unable to correctly define habeas corpus — the legal right to challenge detentions in court — when asked to do so by Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
"Noem’s apparent ignorance is cause for mockery, yes, but also for alarm: the dread of seeing a loaded firearm in the hands of someone entirely unsure how it works," Brown wrote.
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He argued that instead of truly focusing on making the country safer, Noem has spent her time crafting the "perfect TV-ready simulacrum of a MAGA Cabinet member" who's nothing more than a "White House puppet."
Brown gave examples of Noem's "Trumpian public relations efforts," including "her costume choices" and showing up "wearing full-face makeup when she has tagged along on Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids."
"The $50,000 Rolex flashing on her wrist while she posed in front of incarcerated men at a mega-prison in El Salvador smacked of callous cruelty," Brown wrote. "And the theft of her bag — along with $3,000 cash and her work badge — while she was sitting in a Washington restaurant was peak irony for a top security official."
As secretary of Homeland Security, "Noem wields powers that range all the way from immigration to natural disaster relief to cybersecurity. It would be a lot of responsibility for one person who is supremely well-versed in all those areas. Noem is not that person," Brown wrote.