An under-fire Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem is considering leaving President Donald Trump’s Cabinet in order to return to politics in her home state of South Dakota, according to a report.
The homeland security secretary is said to be weighing a challenge to Sen. Mike Rounds in the state’s June Republican primary, according to The Atlantic.
The move would mean Noem might avoid being forced out of her role at the Department of Homeland Security amid intense criticism of her performance. She would also handily avoid any Democratic efforts to impeach her, should the Democrats regain control of the House in November’s midterms, as widely expected.
The suggestion that Noem, a former South Dakota governor, could leave the Cabinet to run for the U.S. Senate has sparked concern among Rounds’ allies.
Sources told The Atlantic that they are skeptical that Noem will actually go through with any attempt to oust Rounds from office, and an adviser for Noem also dismissed the idea.
However, there are suggestions that Noem could use the growing calls for her impeachment as an excuse to resign from the Cabinet.
“It’s something people are talking about across the state,” one Republican involved in South Dakota told The Atlantic. “And based on everything I’ve been hearing, Mike Rounds would handily win that race.”
More than 100 House Democrats have expressed support for Rep. Robin Kelly’s articles of impeachment against Noem. The Illinois Democrat accuses Noem of “obstruction of Congress” for routinely denying lawmakers access to DHS facilities and for withholding congressionally appropriated disaster relief funding.
The articles alleged that Noem has permitted ICE to violate the First and Fourth Amendment rights of those they have detained under Trump’s hardline immigration push. She is also alleged to have engaged in “self-dealing” over reports that she approved $220 million in contracts for a firm run by her outgoing chief spokesperson’s husband.
Noem has also been widely condemned for her handling of the ICE-led mass deportation push in Minnesota, including trying to paint Renee Good and Alex Pretti, U.S. citizens who were shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, as “domestic terrorists.”
The Trump administration appeared to lose confidence in Noem’s leadership last month, bringing in border czar Tom Homan to replace her in leading on-the-ground immigration enforcement efforts in Minneapolis. An unnamed source told The Atlantic that Noem’s position in the Cabinet is no longer secure, even if Trump has so far defended her publicly.
The Atlantic also suggests that Noem may run again for the U.S. House seat she held from 2011 to 2019. The South Dakota at-large congressional district is currently being represented by Dusty Johnson, who has announced that he is running for governor in the Mount Rushmore State.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
