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A growing number of US lawmakers are demanding that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem be removed from office or face impeachment following comments she made labeling two slain protesters as “domestic terrorists.”

Getting into it: The most notable call came from centrist Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who directly appealed to President Trump to fire Kristi Noem, warning that failing to do so would repeat what he described as President Biden’s mistake in keeping Alejandro Mayorkas in office. “President Trump: I make a direct appeal to immediately fire Secretary Noem. Americans have died. She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy,” Fetterman said in a statement. He added that the Minneapolis operation “should stand down and immediately end,” calling it “an ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement.”

Other Democrats have gone further, calling Noem’s conduct impeachable, with Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona accusing her of lying to justify a civilian’s death. “She lied about a citizen to justify his murder. And that is not leadership,” Gallego said in an interview, adding, “The president should ask for her resignation. But if not, I do think the House should impeach.”

House Democrats echoed those demands, with Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee saying, “Kristi Noem has destroyed public confidence in her ability to lead DHS. She lied about Alex Pretti.” The statement added that Noem “needs to be fired, resign, or she will be impeached,” noting that she has been slammed by Republicans, senior DHS staff, and that even the president has distanced himself from her rhetoric.

Under the Constitution, impeachment requires a simple majority vote in the House, while conviction and removal would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, a high bar given current Republican control.

This comes as Republicans have largely pushed back on the impeachment effort, but oversight pressure is still mounting. Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair Rand Paul of Kentucky has sent letters demanding testimony from top immigration officials, arguing that “Congress has an obligation to conduct oversight” given what he described as the “exceptional amount of funding” allocated for border enforcement.

Other Republicans have dismissed impeachment calls as a “partisan stunt,” arguing that Noem is carrying out the administration’s border policies.