Mike Johnson has to be pressed to confirm he has ‘full confidence’ in Kristi Noem

Speaker Mike Johnson was pressed to explain on Sunday whether the Trump administration’s shakeup of immigration enforcement standards in Minneapolis needed to include a broader change of leadership than merely the departure of Greg Bovino, former commander for the Border Patrol – and whether he still had faith in DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

While Johnson eventually signaled his support for Noem, it was clear that the Cabinet secretary remains in the crosshairs of many critics of the Trump administration’s brazen enforcement strategies that have included a massive ICE presence in Minneapolis and raids targeting local businesses and homes.

Tensions in the city have exploded over the past two months following two fatal shootings of protesters. Renee Good was shot to death by an agent in her car during a confrontation on a road, and Alex Pretti was shot several times after being pepper sprayed and wrestled to the ground. A federal civil rights investigation has been opened by the Department of Justice into the latter shooting.

The removal of Bovino from his post this past week was taken by many in Washington as an acknowledgment by the White House that it is losing support for the president’s mass deportation program among Republicans on Capitol Hill. Two GOP senators, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis, have said that Noem needs to resign.

On Sunday, Johnson said he still had faith in Noem to hold the position, after first evading answering whether DHS needed new leadership: “I do have confidence in Kristi Noem.”

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But first, he seemingly admitted that Noem was struggling with the job, something he said anyone in her position would do.

“She's taken over a crushing assignment. I mean, anyone who's in that position would have a difficult time with it,” said the speaker.

He was pressed on whether that support for Noem was solid, given reports that the administration is unhappy with her handling of an increasingly-unpopular immigration enforcement initiative.

“Full confidence?” asked NBC’s Kristen Welker.

“Yes. Look, she has a difficult job. I have a lot of sympathy for her job. I've got a difficult job too,” said Johnson. He added, though, that he expected Noem to implement a “recalibration in some measure.”

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“This is President Trump saying that they're going to look at the way operations are conducted,” added Johnson, who went on to suggest that Pretti would not have been involved in the confrontation that led to his death had local law enforcement arrested him on a separate matter.

In the House of Representatives support for the president remains more solid but Johnson himself is in a tough spot, with moderates fearing for their political futures and his own loyalty to Trump under constant watch. Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are backing Noem’s removal via impeachment but do not have the numbers without GOP support for a vote to succeed.

The chamber is expected to vote on measures this week aimed at ending a partial government shutdown caused by disagreements over funding for DHS and demands from Democrats for guardrails on ICE and Border Patrol’s activities going forward. Those talks have ground business in the chamber to a virtual halt, including talks over renewing subsidies for health care plans on the public Obamacare exchanges.

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Johnson entered the new year with an even slimmer margin of majority in the lower chamber than he had to play with during negotiations on the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” last year. He’s also facing open criticism from some members of his caucus including from Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of GOP leadership.

Noem, meanwhile, appears to be on track for marginalization by the president. She was not called on to provide updates at an on-camera Cabinet meeting this past week, sparking questions about her future, while the White House has directed Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan to take over operations on the ground in Minneapolis.

A person close to the president told The Independent that Noem’s survival is due at least in part to the president’s “no scalps” policy enacted during his second term, an effort to counter what Trump saw as embarrassing victories by his critics in the media during his first term, resulting in firings.