Robin Kelly, Democratic U.S. Representative from Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District, introduced articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Jan. 14, after announcing it a week earlier.
Her decision comes after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, the morning of Jan. 7.
In January, ICE agents shot two U.S. citizens, both in Minneapolis. First, Good, who was shot and killed in her car. On Jan. 24, ICE agents shot and killed 37 -year-old U.S. citizen Alex Pretti.
“Secretary Kristi Noem is an incompetent leader, a disgrace to our democracy, and I am impeaching her for obstruction of justice, violation of public trust, and self-dealing,” Rep. Kelly wrote in a press release on Jan. 7. “From Chicago to Charlotte to Los Angeles to Minneapolis, Secretary Noem is violating the Constitution while ruining—and ending —lives, and separating families. It’s one thing to be incompetent and dangerous, but it’s impeachable to break the rule of law. I told my constituents and Chicagoans that I would fight against Secretary Noem’s agenda. This is me fighting back.”
The Constitution grants the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment, and it states that civil officers of the United States, which includes the secretary of Homeland Security, ‘‘shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
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In response to questions about growing calls for Noem’s impeachment, DHS issued a statement to TIME magazine.
“DHS enforces the laws Congress passes, period. If certain members don’t like those laws, changing them is literally their job,” wrote Tricia McLaughlin, DHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs. “ … It’s time they focus on protecting the American people, the work this Department is doing every day under Secretary Noem’s leadership.”
Kelly believes secretary Noem has violated her oath to support and defend the Constitution in many ways, and she addresses each of these in the three articles of impeachment she has filed.
“Secretary Noem has called my impeachment effort ‘silly,’” Kelly shared at a press conference on Jan. 14. “I want to tell her right now: You have violated your oath of office and there will be consequences. I am watching you. The American people are watching you. And most of all, we are not liking what we are seeing. If you believe impeachment is ‘silly,’ then you are not taking your job or our Constitution seriously.”
The first article, Obstruction of Congress, calls for the impeachment of Noem based on three grounds.
The first claim is that Noem “willfully violated Public Law No. 118-47 which states that no funds appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security ‘may be used to prevent’ ‘a Member of Congress’ ‘from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.’”
The second claim states that Noem also did not comply with “Section 527 of the fiscal year 2024 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act,” incorporated into Public Law No. 118-47, which states that a member of Congress is not required to provide prior notice of “‘intent to enter a Department of Homeland Security facility’” to conduct oversight.
On May 13, 2025, Secretary Noem introduced a system that requires notice of “a minimum of seven calendar days in advance to schedule visits to the Department of Homeland Security detention facilities” if not given authorization by the secretary.
In introducing this system, Noem made no congressional revisions to the text of Section 527 and thus violated the law, according to Kelly. Kelly’s impeachment article has a detailed list of situations where members of Congress were refused entry to DHS facilities for various reasons.
Kelly also claims that Noem “willfully violated” the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, where “the Federal Emergency Management Agency withheld funds obligated by Congress” under Noem’s supervision. According to the Government Accountability Office report B-337204.2, FEMA withholding funding is a violation of the Impoundment Control Act.
The second article of impeachment Kelly introduced was Violation of Public Trust, in which she claims that Noem has “repeatedly violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and due process rights of American citizens by directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make widespread warrantless arrest, forgo due process, and use violence against United States Citizens, lawful residents, and other individuals.”
Kelly then provides five pieces of evidence, which she says exemplify Kelly’s engagement in conduct that violated the public trust.
One example is during Noem’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago, where federal agents are alleged to have used excessive force, injuring and, in at least one case, killing residents.
The last article of impeachment Rep. Kelly filed was Self-Dealing. Kelly claims Noem violated “5 C.F.R pt. 2635, Misuse of Position by using her position for personal gain while inappropriately using taxpayer dollars.” According to Kelly, Noem did so in numerous ways, including using taxpayer dollars to fund an ICE recruitment campaign, among other instances.
After the killing of Pretti, 50 more members cosponsored Kelly’s impeachment articles.
As of Tuesday, over three-fourths of House Democrats, totaling 162 cosponsors, have supported Kelly’s impeachment efforts, according to a press release.
In order to impeach Noem, the House of Representatives needs a simple majority to adopt the articles of impeachment. Then the Senate will hold an impeachment trial. Currently, with over three-fourths of House Democrats supporting the articles of impeachment, the House would also need three Republicans to cosponsor to move the impeachment trial along.
