‘Wholly unqualified to uphold that responsibility’: Trump’s DHS Secretary Kristi Noem incorrect definition of habeas corpus last straw

Secretary Kristi Noem was put on the spot in a Senate hearing and couldn’t define habeas corpus — the stunning scene has now caused observers on social media to call her unqualified for her job.

Rolling Stone was the first to call for the reassessment of Trump’s head of the Department of Homeland Security calling her , “Wholly unqualified to uphold that responsibility”. Habeas corpus has been making rounds in the news lately because the Trump administration has been overriding it and even made a concerning statement that they’re considering suspending it. Habeas corpus is currently the only reason Americans can rest assured that when they’re arrested, they stand a chance for a fair hearing.

Kristi Noem, however, in a now-viral moment, instead claimed that habeas corpus actually means the president can deport whoever he wants. On one hand, if this was just anyone on the street saying this, they could be forgiven for not knowing the Latin-based legal term — but for a member of the executive? That’s wholly unacceptable.

HASSAN: What is habeas corpus?

NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country

HASSAN: That's incorrect pic.twitter.com/ozRVVfdSoP

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 20, 2025

But it’s not just the lack of understanding of the U.S. Constitution. Her history in politics is full of unforced errors that, at the very least, make you question her ethics. In her memoir, she claimed she met Kim Jong Un and then later admitted she didn’t. Recently, it was reported that she’s working on a reality TV show where people compete to become U.S. citizens. And that’s not even mentioning the other mundane but equally puzzling decisions — like photo ops with detained immigrants and choosing to write a gleeful account of how she shot a dog.

Secretary Noem cannot read a room. She can barely read the Constitution. And she’s included in a long line of Trump picks that clearly prioritize loyalty over expertise. The dangers of her unconstitutional, loyalist missteps will reverberate long after she’s gone — and for some people, that day can’t come soon enough.

Some users took to X to express their frustration. One user called her a joke. Another user called the entire situation an embarrassment.

This dog killer is a joke to the United States

— Renegade Cowboy🐾🐾 🌊⚓️🌊🐾🐾 (@Rene_gadeCowboy) May 20, 2025

Actually embarrassing as a country 😅

— . (@4sayknundead) May 21, 2025

While there are supporters who still very clearly stand by Kristi Noem — specifically because she is adamant about deporting undocumented immigrants by any means possible — there’s also a question of what “any means” actually entails. If the decision is that all values and everything that’s written in the Constitution will be thrown in the bin until this particular issue is sorted out, then what makes people think that’s where they’ll stop? If one part of the Constitution can be overridden, then the entire thing can be overridden — it’s just a matter of when.

The Senate and even Congress are expressing worry about how much the second Trump administration is bending the law to its limits — perhaps past its limits. The real question is not whether Secretary Kristi Noem is qualified for her position. The real question has turned into whether the country can accommodate both her and Trump’s other appointees at the same time with the Constitution they keep ignoring.

All signals, as of this moment, point to no. The decision seems binary.