The top three House Democrats on Tuesday came out in support of an effort to impeach Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, part of a growing chorus in the party calling for Ms. Noem’s ouster after federal immigration agents shot and killed two people in Minneapolis this month.
In a joint statement, Representatives Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Pete Aguilar of California called for “dramatic changes” at the Homeland Security Department and accused officials of carrying out a violent “killing spree.”
“Kristi Noem should be fired immediately, or we will commence impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives,” they wrote. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
More than 150 congressional Democrats have now joined the bid to impeach Ms. Noem. The effort would need Republican support to move forward, and, so far, no G.O.P. lawmaker has called for the secretary’s removal.
But the leadership’s statement was a strong indication that Democrats would move to impeach Ms. Noem if they won the majority in the midterm elections, and that many of them, across the ideological spectrum, are prepared to campaign on the issue.
Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, suggested that the party would begin preparing for eventual impeachment proceedings, with or without Republican support.
In a statement, he said that he and other leading Democrats would start “a complete oversight and impeachment inquiry into all potential constitutional crimes committed by Secretary Noem” if Republicans failed to do so.
So far, 162 House Democrats — about three-quarters of the total caucus — have backed a resolution to impeach Ms. Noem, according to a spokeswoman for Representative Robin Kelly, who introduced the resolution earlier this month. That is 51 more than had signed on as cosponsors to Ms. Kelly’s measure as of Friday, the last day the House met for legislative business and the day before Mr. Pretti was killed.
Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Clark and Mr. Aguilar have yet to sign on as co-sponsors.
Though many Senate Democrats have called for Ms. Noem to resign or be fired, a smaller number in that chamber have called her for to be impeached. They include Senators Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Peter Welch of Vermont, and Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
“Kristi Noem should resign,” Ms. Warren said in a video posted on social media platforms. “And if she doesn’t, Congress should impeach her and remove her from office.”
Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.
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