Border czar Tom Homan declined to explain what Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem meant when she said her department must help ensure "the right leaders" are elected, telling CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that he simply hasn't talked to her about it.
The exchange followed remarks Noem made at a press conference in Arizona on Friday, where she argued that elections partly fall under DHS's purview. She said the department must do its part, including by having:
"The right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country through the days that we have, knowing that people can trust it."
The phrasing "electing the right leaders" immediately drew Democrat backlash, including from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Washington Examiner reported. When Tapper pressed Homan on what Noem intended, the border czar offered a guess but made clear he couldn't speak for her:
"I don't know, that'd be a question for the secretary. If I had to guess, probably, that, you know, only those legally eligible to vote would vote, but I have not talked to the secretary about those statements. That'd be something she'd have to answer."
It was a notable punt — honest, but not exactly a ringing defense.
Shortly after Homan's CNN appearance, Noem took to X to defend herself. She said her comments were solely about ensuring only U.S. citizens vote in elections and that who they cast ballots for is obviously up to the voters themselves. Then she added the kind of line that tends to fuel the news cycle rather than close it:
"It must be exhausting to regularly manufacture outrage even over the most commonsense statements."
On its face, Noem's clarification is perfectly reasonable. Ensuring that only eligible citizens vote is not a controversial position outside of Washington. It is, in fact, the entire premise of the SAVE America Act — legislation Noem herself has pushed Congress to pass, which would require photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote in U.S. elections.
The problem isn't the policy. The problem is the phrasing. "The right leaders" is the kind of language that hands your opponents a weapon for free. If what you mean is election integrity, say election integrity. Democrats will attack you either way — no reason to give them a cleaner shot.
The flap arrives at an already turbulent moment for Noem. Two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were killed in officer-involved shootings during immigration operations in Minneapolis. The shooting involving Pretti led to the end of the Trump administration's large-scale immigration operation in the city. It also resulted in Homan being sent to Minneapolis to coordinate with Minnesota officials.
That dynamic has not gone unnoticed. Homan's expanding role as the administration's point man on immigration enforcement, including in situations that would ordinarily fall to the DHS secretary, has fueled speculation about Noem's standing within the operation she nominally leads. One linked report described Homan as the "de facto" DHS secretary.
There have been calls for Noem's resignation, though the specifics remain vague. What is clear is that President Trump has stuck by her.
Democrats would love nothing more than to turn a clumsy sound bite into proof that the administration wants to rig elections. That's the play here — take "the right leaders," strip it of context, and build a narrative about authoritarian intent. It's a familiar move, and it works best when the target cooperates by being imprecise.
The underlying policy question — whether DHS has a role in election security — is actually settled. It does. DHS designated election infrastructure as critical infrastructure back in 2017. Ensuring that non-citizens don't vote is a legitimate security concern, not an exotic power grab. The SAVE America Act addresses a real vulnerability that Democrats have spent years pretending doesn't exist.
But policy wins require disciplined messaging, especially when you're already absorbing hits on other fronts. Noem's substantive position is strong. Her word choice wasn't. And when Homan can't or won't back you up on national television, the gap between what you meant and what you said becomes the entire story.
That's where this lands. Not as a scandal, but as an unforced error at a moment when the administration's immigration and security agenda needs its principals speaking with precision, not generating cleanup duty for each other.