Updated March 16, 2026, 5:36 p.m. ET
Top congressional Democrats referred evidence to the Justice Department on March 16 that they say indicates Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem committed perjury in testimony before Congress.
“Noem repeatedly misled the Senate Committee on the Judiciary during her testimony,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D–Illinois, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D–Maryland, said in a letter to the Justice Department. “A number of her statements appear to violate criminal statutes prohibiting perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress.”
Durbin and Raskin specifically referred to testimony Noem gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3 and before the House Judiciary Committee on March 4. Durbin is the top Democrat for the Senate Judiciary Committee, while Raskin is the top Democrat for the House Judiciary Committee.
“Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically FALSE,” DHS told USA TODAY in a written statement.
The Justice Department won’t pursue a criminal investigation, saying in a statement to USA TODAY, “The DOJ has received the latest political stunt from the Democrats who should instead vote to reopen the Department of Homeland Security.”
Durbin and Raskin said in their letter that they have “low expectations” for the current Justice Department to investigate the issue, but also noted charges can be brought for up to five years after the testimony, so a DOJ under a new president could still investigate.
The day after Noem’s second day of testimony, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he was replacing her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R–Oklahoma, to lead the DHS, beginning March 31.
Trump praised Noem’s service and said she will become Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, which he described as a new security initiative for the Western Hemisphere.
What are the alleged lies?
Durbin and Raskin pointed to Noem’s statements on a range of topics, including her testimony that DHS follows “all federal court orders” and that she wasn’t aware “of any situations” where someone at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency in her department, has violated a court order or lied to a federal judge.
Minnesota federal Judge Patrick J. Schiltz wrote in a Feb. 26 court order that ICE had violated 210 orders in 143 separate cases, describing the “continued violation” of orders as “beyond the pale.”
Durbin and Raskin noted Schiltz’s determination in their letter to the Justice Department.
The two Democrats also pointed to Noem’s testimony that Trump knew DHS was going to spend $220 million running television ads that featured Noem prominently.
Trump later said Noem’s testimony about his awareness wasn’t true.
“I never knew anything about it,” the president told Reuters in a phone interview.
“These two statements are clearly inconsistent; one of them has to be false,” the Democrats wrote in their letter.
The Democrats also pointed to Noem’s testimony that there was a competitive bidding process to determine which private contractors would win a contract to run the ad campaign, citing reporting that disputed her account.
“Even if Secretary Noem was the one telling the truth about the President’s knowledge, and she may well havebeen, she flatly misrepresented that the contract had been subject to a competitive bid,” they added.
The Democrats also alleged Noem made false statements before Congress about detaining U.S. citizens and about the conditions for individuals detained by ICE.
This story has been updated with additional information.
