Delia Ramirez Directly Accuses Kristi Noem Of Corrupt Acts Then Outright Demands Her Resignation

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At Wednesday's House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) questioned DHS Sec. Kristi Noem.

Transcript

00:00Gentle lady's time has expired. I now recognize Ms. Ramirez for five minutes of questioning.

00:05Thank you, Chairman. Secretary, it's good to see you. I'm going to go straight to the questions

00:10because I have a lot of them. Let me start just following up with Congressman Goldman about

00:16judiciary. Do you agree that the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government and it is your

00:20obligation as a member of the executive branch to honor decisions made by the highest court of the

00:26land? Yes or no, Secretary? We are abiding by all federal judges' orders. Absolutely. Yes, it's a

00:34co-equal branch of government. Okay, well, let me ask you a follow-up question to that. Do you agree

00:38that Congress is a co-equal branch of government and it is your obligation as a member of the

00:43executive branch to honor legislation and appropriations duly authorized by Congress?

00:49Yes or no? Yes, that's why I'm thrilled to work. Well, let me ask you the follow-up question here

00:53because I have a lot of them. Do you agree that Article 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the

00:57power of the purse? Yes or no? Yes, that is a due to Congress. Do you believe that? Let me ask you

01:02another follow-up. It's just yes or no. Do you believe you have the power to disregard congressional

01:06appropriations and unilaterally repurposed funds that have been duly appropriated by Congress?

01:12Yes or no? Ma'am, we are not doing that. The answer to you is no. All right, well, let me, it was a yes

01:18or no, Secretary. Let me continue. Interestingly, you said no. But since you've been Secretary,

01:24you have repeatedly disregarded the law. You have illegally impounded funds that Congress appropriated

01:31and that your branch of government must implement pursuant to the law. Yet you, you've closed offices

01:39established in law, including the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the

01:45Immigration Detention Amendment, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services,

01:50and you've canceled contracts for programs authorized in law, including shelter and service

01:56programs and citizenship and integration grants. You, you've obstructed and roughed up members of this

02:02committee as they attempted to conduct congressional oversight, and then you vilified them. But my

02:07question is, if they were so bad, why were they allowed to go in after to conduct oversight? Let me just

02:13continue. You redirected funds to terrorize our communities. You created taxpayer-funded political

02:20propaganda campaigns to terrorize families and children who don't sleep at night because of the

02:26terror of those commercials that you are putting out there. You hold sick, disrespectful press conferences

02:33in my state where, let me be clear, you are not welcome. You corruptly used emergency authority to avoid

02:40procurement to make Trump's private prison donors richer by directing $45 billion for them to expand

02:48ICE detention centers. You defunded work to address real threats to the homeland, all while you pursued

02:54college newspaper editors, labor leaders, and even a Harvard scientist who failed to declare frog

03:02embryos at the airport. Clearly, we don't have time for all my questions. So I have 13 pages worth of

03:09questions that I will be submitting to the record that I expect you and the administration to answer.

03:15But here is my final question to you. When you took your oath, did you swear to support and defend the

03:23Constitution of the United States of America? Yes or no? Yes, I did. So I find that laughable. You don't behave

03:30like someone who takes that oath seriously. And let me tell you why. We don't live in a dictatorship or a

03:36monarchy. Trump's will is not the guiding doctrine of this nation. And our country is not a playground

03:43for his or your twisted authoritarian fantasies. We are a democracy. We defend the Constitution and we

03:51affirm the rule of law. We respect the co-equal branches of government and we uphold our rights,

03:56even when we disagree. The foundation of our nation is based on a core set of constitutional rights

04:02upon which our prosperity, our pluralism, and our peace depend on it. You, however, have been leading

04:09this work for 116 days. And in that time, you have profiled and dehumanized our neighbors.

04:17You've betrayed our constitutional commitment to due process. You've deported United States citizens.

04:24You've undermined the courts. You've broken the law. You've engaged in corruption. And you've weaponized

04:30the immigration system to violate civil rights. As Senator Murphy perfectly stated, your department

04:39is out of control. But you, you're responsible. You have betrayed the sacred fundamentals of your oath.

04:46And I believe to my core that you are not fit to hold the office. And I, again, to your face,

04:54demand your immediate resignation. And I put it and place it on the record for all of us to see.

05:03With that, Chairman, I yield back.

05:05General Lee yields. Mr. Gabarino is recognized.

05:08Thank you, Chairman. Madam Secretary, thank you so much for being here today. I'm the Chairman of the

05:13this Subcommittee on Cybersecurity Infrastructure Protection. So I work with CISA a lot.

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