'These people are amateurs': GOP senator slams top Trump officials

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at press conference to discuss ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, at One World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., January 8, 2026. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado

One Republican member of the U.S. Senate recently launched into a rant about what he viewed as "amateurish" leadership of senior-level officials in President Donald Trump's administration.

On Tuesday, journalist Jamie Dupree posted a video of Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) speaking to reporters about Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and other top officials within the DHS. Tillis – who is not running for a third term in the Senate — argued that Noem's handling of DHS operations in Minnesota "should be disqualifying."

"She should be out of a job. Really, it's just amateurish. It's terrible," he said. "It's making the president look bad on policies that he won on."

Tillis, who was one of the 59 senators who voted for Noem's confirmation, lamented that Noem was disrupting Trump's success with her "incompetence." He asserted that while the president was elected to a second term by running "on a strong message about immigration," Noem had allowed the narrative to shift so much that now "nobody is talking about that." Tillis also mentioned former U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino as someone who was getting in the way of Trump's agenda.

"They're not talking about securing the border, they're talking about the incompetence of the leader of the Homeland Security [Department] — and the other people, Bovino, whatever his name is — he needs to go back to California, get his retirement papers, and go," he added. "These people are amateurs. They gotta de-escalate there, and treat these communities with some respect."

The North Carolina Republican's comments come after multiple unnamed Republicans confided to Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman that Noem is "completely out of her depth" and "needs to go." Sherman told MS NOW host Katy Tur that Republicans could be "in a tough spot" if a united House Democratic Caucus decides to support articles of impeachment against the DHS secretary.

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