DHS Secretary Kristi Noem testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security” at the Rayburn Building on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | getty images
The top Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary committees are calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether late Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lied under oath to Congress.
The ranking member of the Senate panel, Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and the House committee’s top Democrat, Representative Jamie Raskin, D-Md., sent a referral to Bondi on Monday saying Noem would have violated statutes prohibiting perjury and making false statements in Congress if she appeared before their committees on March 3 and March 4.
“Many of his statements appear to violate criminal laws prohibiting perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress,” the lawmakers wrote, focusing on his comments and noting that the department has not violated court orders related to its immigration enforcement.
President Donald Trump fired Noem after her testimony earlier this month and appointed Senator Markway Mullin, R-Okla., to replace her. Mullin will need confirmation by his Senate colleagues before taking over DHS and will appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
The Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
According to Durbin and Raskin, Noem falsely claimed on several occasions that DHS had not violated any court orders.
They wrote, “Those statements were false. DHS has repeatedly disregarded court orders to release individuals from ICE custody and has even failed to release individuals until days or weeks after the court-ordered date.”
They also said he made false claims about the bidding process for a DHS contract, the detention of American citizens, and the conditions of detention on a $220 million television advertising campaign.
Can make members of Congress and committees criminal referral To the Justice Department outlining the evidence of the alleged crimes. But such communications do not obligate the DOJ to investigate.
“While we have low expectations that you will pursue this case given your partisan weaponization of the Justice Department, we note that the statute of limitations for perjury and knowingly and knowingly making false statements to Congress is five years,” the lawmakers wrote.