Donald Trump was speaking publicly while Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, and others stood nearby, but what really matters here is what has happened under this administration and why the response from some Democrats feels far too cautious.
Two people, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by government agents. Renee was shot in the face. Alex was shot in the back. These were not accidents. They were not mistakes caused by bad training or confusion. These deaths happened because someone chose to use deadly force. That choice matters.
Given that reality, it’s hard to understand why some moderate Democrats seem worried about sounding “too extreme.” When the government kills people, there is no such thing as overreacting. This is not a messaging problem or a political misstep. It is a moral emergency. Kristi Noem should be called on to resign. Stephen Miller should be called on to resign. The president himself should be called on to resign.
The real risk here isn’t going too far. It’s not going far enough. Calling for impeachment alone isn’t sufficient. If laws were broken, then arrest, prosecution, and trials should be on the table. No one should be above the law, especially when lives have been taken.
And the killings are only part of what’s happening. ICE and CBP agents are reportedly going door to door, breaking into homes, terrifying families. Babies are being taken from their mothers. Fathers are being blocked from mourning their dead children. Sick children are being separated from their parents and then dying in government custody. These are not isolated incidents. They form a pattern.
If this were happening in another country, especially one Americans are used to condemning, there would be no hesitation in calling these actions crimes against humanity. The idea that all of this would stop if ICE simply had better “guidance” is insulting. This isn’t confusion or mismanagement. It’s cruelty.
Cruelty like this doesn’t just happen on its own. It only continues when it’s tolerated, justified, and encouraged. That kind of behavior flows downward from leadership. Without real criminal accountability, this kind of violence becomes policy, and it keeps going.
Still, moderate Democrats do not represent the whole party. Some Democrats in the Senate are threatening to shut down the government if Trump and Republicans refuse to accept meaningful reforms. Even more important, House Democrats are starting to move.
House leadership is now openly calling for Kristi Noem to resign or face impeachment. That shift also seems to be closing the gap between Democrats who focus on accountability and those who focus on cost-of-living issues. Party leaders are increasingly treating those concerns as inseparable.
In a forceful statement, Democratic leaders said taxpayer money is being used by the Trump administration to kill Americans, terrorize communities, and violently target immigrant families who are following the law. They said the country is disgusted by what the Department of Homeland Security has done.
They accused Republicans of being willing to shut down the government just to keep this violence going nationwide. They called that immoral. They demanded major changes at DHS, criminal prosecution for agents who broke the law, an end to paramilitary tactics, and a clear shift in how public money is spent. Tax dollars, they said, should make life more affordable for everyday people, not be used to kill them.
They concluded by saying the violence must stop immediately and that Kristi Noem should be fired at once or face impeachment proceedings. The message was blunt: this can be handled the easy way or the hard way.
Many longtime observers said they had never seen Hakeem Jeffries speak so aggressively. Jill Lawrence, a veteran political writer and former opinion editor at USA Today, called the statement inspirational. She said Jeffries was using the administration’s own language against it, making strong, undeniable arguments, and speaking from a position of strength as support for impeachment grows.
She also pointed out how this ties directly into affordability. Republicans allowed health insurance subsidies to expire and passed massive Medicaid cuts, while claiming to care about everyday costs. Against that backdrop, saying public money shouldn’t be used to kill people is not a distraction from economic issues—it’s central to them.
Lawrence said the statement reflects how deeply people care about these abuses of power. Not long ago, she herself thought impeachment talk was premature. What changed her mind was the killing of Renee Good and the growing number of impeachment articles filed against Trump and members of his cabinet.
She explained that it no longer made sense to mock or dismiss people calling for impeachment. The detailed articles against Trump and his officials laid out serious allegations that deserve public scrutiny. Formal hearings, similar to those held after January 6, could clarify the facts and make the stakes clear to the public.
As for the argument that impeachment is pointless if the Senate won’t convict, she disagreed. Her view is that Democrats should build cases methodically, starting with cabinet members whose actions are especially dangerous. That process could lay the groundwork for a broader impeachment effort later, depending on how control of Congress shifts.
She noted that Noem has already drawn support from well over a hundred Democrats for impeachment, and that lawmakers like Jamie Raskin are pushing for hearings to expand and document the evidence. Those hearings, even if blocked by Republicans, would still create a public record.
Lawrence also rejected the idea that Democrats must choose between talking about accountability and talking about everyday costs. She said many political strategists underestimate how deeply these killings and abuses have affected the public. People can see that Trump isn’t focused on lowering prices, and they understand that violence by the state makes everything political.
She pointed to Minneapolis as proof that public attention can change opinion, and that opinion can force Democrats to act. Impeachment hearings, official or not, could do the same by keeping the facts in front of the public.
When asked whether this moment truly represents a shift away from Trump, she acknowledged skepticism but argued that several forces are coming together: repeated tragedies, Trump’s age and overreach, resistance from the courts, and a new generation of Democrats pushing for deeper change.
She admitted that her own views have shifted. While still fiscally cautious, she now believes more fundamental reforms are needed to prevent another period like this and to finally address issues Americans care about, such as health care and gun safety.
In her view, the system relies far too much on the personal character of presidents, and that reliance has failed in devastating ways. Structural change is necessary, especially to break the paralysis in Congress. The murders, she said plainly, were the breaking point.
That is the message moderate Democrats need to hear.
