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House Republicans blast Noem impeachment resolution as ‘partisan stunt,’ as Dems fail to reach across aisle
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Several House Republicans say Democrats are not working across the aisle on a resolution to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and slammed the Democratic minority’s move as a “messaging exercise” and “partisan stunt.”
Despite more than half of the Democratic caucus sponsoring the resolution, which was introduced by Rep. Robin Kelly on Jan. 14, there are still a number of Democrats who have yet to sponsor. Kelly posted to X on Monday night that 146 of the 213 House Dems have signed on to the articles of impeachment.
GOP sources on Capitol Hill tell Fox News Digital that there has been no effort from Democrats to work with Republicans on the resolution.
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, introduced a similar resolution in 2023 to impeach President Biden’s DHS secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, and noted that the impeachment articles garnered more support than the Democrats’ attempt to remove Noem from the position.
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“Mayorkas presided over an open border and the worst human trafficking crisis in modern history, during which 11 million illegal aliens entered our country,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “Sec. Noem, by contrast, has actually done the job she was appointed to carry out.
House Republicans accuse Democrats of pushing a partisan impeachment effort against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, arguing the resolution lacks bipartisan support and is aimed more at political messaging than accountability. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)
“The record low border crossings we have seen in just the first year of the Trump Administration make clear that Mayorkas willingly chose to leave our border open, despite his two-faced rhetoric under oath,” Fallon added. “Secretary Noem is doing her job at DHS, whereas Mayorkas failed.”
Fallon was also joined by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., in introducing the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in 2023. Biggs, who is currently running for governor of Arizona, told Fox News Digital “what Democrats are pushing now is something entirely different.”
“[Mayorkas] willfully refused to enforce federal law, misled Congress, and presided over the worst border collapse in American history,” Biggs told Fox News Digital. “As a Representative from Arizona, I’ve seen firsthand the harm his failures caused—overrun communities, overwhelmed law enforcement, and a federal government that abandoned its duty to secure the border.”
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, dismissed Democrat efforts to impeach Noem, referring to the resolution as a “messaging exercise.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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“[Noem impeachment articles are] a partisan stunt with no factual or constitutional basis, and they couldn’t even unify their own caucus behind it,” Biggs added.
“Weaponizing impeachment cheapens a serious constitutional remedy, and the American people know the difference between real misconduct and manufactured outrage.”
While Fallon and Biggs’ bill didn’t make it to a vote on the House Floor, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, R-Ga., articles of impeachment were passed by the Republican majority in 2024 in a 214-213 vote, which officially impeached Mayorkas.
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Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital that the resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is incomparable to the successful resolution that ultimately impeached Mayorkas. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The vote to formally convict the former DHS Secretary died in the Senate in a 51-49 vote when the chamber had a Democrat majority. A two-thirds majority is required to remove an official from office if an impeachment conviction is reached in the Senate. No Democrats in both the House and the Senate voted in favor of impeaching Mayorkas.
With Republicans now controlling both the House and the Senate, Democrats have a heavy lift if they intend to impeach Noem, and Fallon even dismissed the current resolution that Kelly introduced as a “messaging exercise.”
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“It makes sense then that Democrats can’t even present a unified front on their Secretary Noem impeachment resolution,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “This is a messaging exercise aimed at catering to Democrats’ increasingly far-left base and is equally as divorced from reality.”
Should Democrats take control of the House after the 2026 midterms, a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate remains unlikely in 2027.
President Donald Trump told reporters that Noem would not be stepping down from her role during a press gaggle on Tuesday.
“This is obviously one of those witch hunts,” Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “This is another example of the Democrats showing their hypocrisy.”
An FBI agent on the scene of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images and ODU English Department/Facebook)
“When Barack Obama was deporting people like hot cakes, they did nothing about it,” Hunt, who is running for U.S. Senate in Texas added. “He has deported far more people than President Trump has and both of his presidencies combined. And so the fact that they are now using tactics like this just shows that they’re grasping at straws.”
When asked about the key difference between the Mayorkas impeachment and the resolution to impeach Noem, Hunt said, “Well, 20 million people in this country illegally.”
The articles of impeachment were notably introduced prior to the deadly Border Patrol-involved shooting of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.
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Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, was killed in Minneapolis after Secretary Noem said Pretti “violently resisted” arrest and a Border Patrol agent who initially fired was “fearing for his life.”
In a separate instance in Minneapolis on Jan. 14, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent during an altercation that took place. DHS said that Good attempted to impede law enforcement operations by using her car to block the passage of agents. DHS cited a video that showed Good accelerating toward an officer, causing the officer to draw his weapon and fire 4 shots at Good. One shot struck the 37-year-old in the head, resulting in her death.
Agitators converge after the shooting of Alex Pretti. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
The agency later revealed the officer who fired the shots in what DHS says was according to protocol and in self-defense. He suffered from internal bleeding after being struck by Good’s vehicle.
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Following Good’s death, demonstrations erupted in the streets of Minneapolis with little to no local police presence. Agitators were directing traffic and barricades were established similar to agitator zoning that took place in the Twin Cities after the death of George Floyd.
Trump held a phone call with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday morning. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president asked Walz to “work together peacefully” with ICE agents and DHS.
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Detroit’s QLINE streetcar system: Quick facts to know
Detroit’s QLINE streetcar system offers a 3.3-mile ride along Woodward Avenue, connecting key downtown and midtown destinations with a modern, battery-powered transit option.
More than a decade ago, a juror in a Detroit public corruption trial that ended with three men getting convicted in a $97 million bribery scheme exclaimed: “Hopefully this is the end of this nightmare … this is a whole new beginning.”
It didn’t quite go that way as the following years saw two city councilmen indictments, a dozen school principal bribery convictions, a towing scandal, as well as a toxic dirt and demolition fiasco.
And now there’s this.
In a new criminal filing in U.S. District Court, a former city official in charge of the Detroit People Mover shuttle is charged with taking $300,000 in bribes from a businessmen who reportedly billed the city for work that was never performed — all with the help of his connected associate.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court, the alleged scheme involves 55-year-old Michael Anderson, a former director with the Detroit Transportation Corporation, who allegedly helped Detroit businessman Terrence Parker bill the city for nearly $305,000 in information technology work that was never performed.
Moreover, court records show, Parker’s company has no experience with IT work, but rather performs restoration work on homes damaged by storms and natural disasters. Still, the FBI says, Parker managed to submit 22 phony invoices to the DTC for IT work, including fixing computer monitors — and got paid for all of it. That’s because Anderson was approving his phony invoices from the inside, the government says, and getting money in exchange for his help.
Anderson and Parker both are charged with conspiracy and federal program theft/bribery and face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted. They were released on bond following their initial appearances in U.S. District Court. Their court-appointed lawyer could not be reached for comment.
According to the complaint, Anderson, who was hired by the city in 2022, was in charge of overseeing People Mover operations until he was fired in April for conduct unrelated to the pending criminal case. Parker owns a business called Total Care Restoration (TCR), which performs restoration work on homes damaged by fire, water, windstorms, or other elements.
According to the government, Parker was billing the DTC for information technology services, even though his company has no experience in that field, nor has it ever submitted a bid proposal to the city for such work, or signed any contract with the DTC.
Still, the government alleges, between 2023-25, the DTC paid nearly $305,000 to TCR for 23 invoices it had submitted, 22 of those invoices charged for IT services.
“Anderson approved the invoices and Parker deposited the checks into TCR’s bank account. TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments before Anderson was hired as Procurement Director. Likewise, TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments after Anderson was fired as Procurement Director,” the complaint states.
According to the government, Anderson did actually procure and manage IT contracts with a number of companies while he worked for the DTC. But TCR was billing the city for work that those companies had been contracted to do.
“At least six TCR invoices listed work that was actually contracted to (another company),” an FBI agent wrote in his affidavit attached to the criminal complaint.
Also noteworthy, the FBI agent writes: “Most of TCR’s invoices contained a charge for debris removal. In my experience, debris removal is a common line item for restoration projects but not for IT work.”
According to the complaint, the FBI figured out that Parker was funneling money to Anderson by reviewing their bank records, and noticing that their deposits and withdrawals coincided. For example, on Aug. 16, 2024, Parker deposited a DTC check for $23,934 and withdrew $18,000 cash. That same day and over the next several days, Anderson made cash deposits into his account for $1,500, $1,300, $1,000, $700 and $1,850.
“There is probable cause to believe that Parker paid Anderson a portion of the money from the TCR invoices,” the FBI agent writes.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
See surveillance footage of slapping incident at Riverside High School
Demitrios Visvardis, a former paraprofessional, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery for slapping Shrone Dunn, an 18-year-old with cerebal palsy.
Courtesy of Milwaukee Police Department
When family members of a special education student voiced displeasure with a deferred plea agreement for former MPS paraprofessional Demitrios Visvardis in February, they were told it was fair given his lack of prior offenses.
Visvardis was charged with battery four months earlier in connection with an incident involving Shrone Dunn, 18, of Riverside High School.
“This ain’t nothing but a slap on the wrist,” Tyrone Dunn, Shrone’s father, said during the plea hearing. “We’re looking for justice.”
Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski assured Dunn of District Attorney Erin Karshen’s ability to fully prosecute based on what was known.
But records obtained by the Journal Sentinel through an open records request raise questions about Visvardis’s history, and how much was known before the plea deal was reached.
Visvardis has no prior criminal record, but documents in his personnel file at Milwaukee Public Schools reference a 2024 accusation that he struck a special education student.
In a December 2025 letter filed after a disciplinary hearing, MPS hearing officer Natalie Fluker said the November 2025 incident involving Shrone Dunn was “the second time in a year that [Visvardis has] been accused of slapping a vulnerable student.”
The letter references findings made by hearing officer Gary Johnson during disciplinary proceedings related to the 2024 incident.
Earlier incident also involved slapping
According to the December letter, another Riverside High School staff member expressed concern to Principal Jeff Lasky after witnessing Visvardis slap an intellectually disabled student on October 10, 2024. As with the incident involving Dunn, review of security footage confirmed the allegations.
Visvardis physically kept the student on a vent near an exit on the first floor of the school building despite the student’s multiple attempts to get up, according to the letter. Describing the footage, Johnson wrote, “The student appears to scream and you turn and slap him on the face. You then exit the hallway.”
Visvardis apologized for the incident, stating it was the worst thing he’d ever done.
Milwaukee Public Schools failed to report prior incident
According to the MPS employee handbook, the district generally follows a progressive discipline model that depends on the behavior and frequency of occurrences.
Johnson found the first incident to be “especially egregious, considering the unnecessary and excessive force” used on Student A and recommended a departure from the progressive discipline model. The departure meant Visvardis would be issued a three-day unpaid suspension and required enrollment in a course in nonviolent crisis intervention.
The school district did not directly respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel about whether the police were notified of the incident in 2024. It also declined to say whether Student A’s parents were informed or what steps were taken to protect the student following the incident.
“The safety of our students is our highest priority,” Stephen Davis, a media relations manager at Milwaukee Public Schools, told the Journal Sentinel in an emailed statement. “We cannot discuss the details of any personnel matter, and the current administration would not be able to speak about how a prior case was addressed in 2024.”
But according to Milwaukee Police Department records, no report associated with Visvardis exists since January 2021 beyond the report on his arrest on November 13, 2025. That’s the day after Riverside cameras captured footage of Visvardis slapping Dunn “with an open hand to the left side of face,” according to police records.
Review hearing scheduled for this week
Visvardis is due back in court on Thursday, June 4.
According to the deferred prosecution agreement obtained by the Journal Sentinel, he will be eligible to seek employment in a “school, group home or any other place of employment where he would interact with other vulnerable people” this month, given successful completion of an anger management treatment program.
Meanwhile, the Dunn Family has filed a lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Board of School Directors, and Visvardis.
April Quevedo covers Metcalfe Park for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact: aquevedo@usatodayco.com.
Neighborhood Dispatch reporting is supported by Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Journal Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association, and EnMotive, a subsidiary of USA TODAY Co.
Minneapolis police are investigating a hit-and-run that left a man seriously injured Tuesday afternoon.
The crash happened near Oliver Avenue North and Lowry Avenue North just before 2 p.m., according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
Investigators say an SUV struck another vehicle, which then collided with a motorcyclist. The driver of the SUV then fled the scene.
The motorcyclist was taken to the hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries. Police say the driver of the other vehicle was not injured.
No arrests have been made as of Tuesday night.
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