Name: Takeaways from Kristi Noems contentious testimony at House hearing
Uploaded: 2025-12-11T20:49:16.272Z
Duration: 3 min 47 s
Description: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was on Capitol Hill Thursday for a fiery House hearing on worldwide threats. CBS News national security contributor Samantha Vinograd has more.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was on Capitol Hill Thursday for a fiery House hearing on worldwide threats. CBS News national security contributor Samantha Vinograd has more.

Washington

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appeared before a House committee, where she faced intense questioning from Democratic lawmakers regarding cuts to federal security funding, particularly for New York City. Representative Timothy Kennedy criticized Noem for reducing the city's Urban Area Security Initiative funding by $134 million, arguing that the decision jeopardizes public safety.

Noem defended the cuts by citing both political disagreements over immigration enforcement and the existence of unspent funds in New York. The hearing also addressed broader security threats, including those posed by individuals entering the U.S. lawfully under recent administration policies and by groups like Antifa, though officials provided limited specifics or evidence on these threats.

Takeaways from Kristi Noem's contentious testimony at House hearing

Also watching this, about an hour ago, Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem faced a line of tough questions from Democrats in a House committee hearing over worldwide threats to our own homeland, among the topics immigration, Venezuela, and funding for FEMA and counterterrorism efforts. So at one point, Representative Timothy Kennedy of New York blasted Noem for slashing federal dollars to his state's Homeland Security program fighting terrorism. Listen. Yes or no, would you say New York City is susceptible to these kinds of security threats? Yes, and that's why they should spend $440 million dollars. So with New York City being the number one terrorist target in the nation, with New York City being the number one, I reclaim my time, with New York City being the number one security threat in this nation, it's unconscionable that you would cut $134 million in urban area security initiative funding for the city of New York. What compels you to knowingly make our cities less safe with these funding cuts? What compels you, your mayor and your governor, to release thousands of criminals on the streets rather than to turn them over to ICE? You'd rather release a murderer out on to the street away from the country than honor our detainers. You should honor our detainers. You should support the security of New York City and the state of New York, the number one threat in this nation. In your own words, your cuts are blatantly political, callous, and outright dangerous. So joining us live to break all of this down is CBS News National Security Contributor Sam Vinograd. Sam, I hope that you were able to translate there. They spoke over each other so much, it's really hard to understand exactly what the hell either one of them are talking about. Did we get any clear idea of why cuts to FEMA and security programs are happening? Well, there are various explanations given by the Secretary of Homeland Security for why DHS did cut FEMA grants to New York. In the part of the clip that you just aired, she did seem to imply that these cuts were a result of New York City not doing what the Trump administration would have liked when it came to immigration enforcement. She also mentioned the fact that there were unspent or undisbursed funds that New York City could have relied on rather than new funding. So whether it was a political argument, a fiscal argument, or somewhere in between, it was frankly really hard to tell and read. This wasn't the only instance of the Secretary and other witnesses speaking at the same time as members of Congress. His hearing got very contentious at various junctures. One of the other big topics here was immigration. What stood out to you with those conversations, Sam? Well, as someone who did serve in the Biden administration, I was really struck by the continued focus on security threats posed by individuals who came into this country lawfully, not illegally, but lawfully under the Biden administration. When asked about the biggest threat facing this country, I believe it was the director of the National Counterterrorism Center who said it was the folks that came here under the Biden administration under, for example, various parole programs and otherwise. And there was also a very unique exchange between a member of Congress and a senior FBI official, Director Patel, did not show up for this hearing, in which the FBI official, Michael Glasheen, said that the biggest terrorism-related threat facing this country came from Antifa, but was unable to really provide specifics on the number of individuals associated with Antifa in this country, what their structure looks like, and otherwise. So there were a lot of accusations thrown around about threats associated with Antifa and individuals who came here under the Biden administration, but not a whole lot of specificity. All right, Sam Vinograd, thank you so much for that conversation. Appreciate it so much. Good to see you, as always.

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