from the that’s-not-how-any-of-this-works dept
Our Secretary of Homeland Security, tasked with overseeing the detention of thousands of people, doesn’t understand one of the most fundamental protections against unlawful imprisonment in our legal system. And we’re not talking about some obscure technical detail — we’re talking about habeas corpus, a basic right that’s been around since the Magna Carta.
Kristi Noem — who recently made headlines by taking glamor selfies in El Salvador’s concentration camps — apparently has no fucking clue how habeas corpus works, as demonstrated during a Senate hearing when she was asked to define this cornerstone of civil liberty.
When quizzed about the definition of habeas corpus by Senator Maggie Hassan, Noem stumbled and then claimed it meant the literal opposite of what it means:
A quick transcript:
Hassan: Secretary Noem, what is habeas corpus?
Noem: Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country….
Hassan: No, let me stop you
Noem [crosstalk]… and suspend their right to… that’s what suspend their right to…
Hassan: Excuse me, that’s incorrect.
Noem: Lincoln used it…
Hassan: Excuse me, habeas corpus…
Noem: [condescendingly] uh huh
Hassan: … is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simple arrest people, including American citizens and hold them indefinitely for no reason. Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea. As a Senator from the “Live free or die” state, this matters a lot to me and my constituents and to all Americans. So, Secretary Noem, do you support the core protections that habeas corpus provides that the government must provide a public reason in order to detain and imprison someone?
Noem: I support habeas corpus, I also recognize that the President of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.
There’s a lot of nonsense to unpack here. Noem’s response wasn’t just wrong — it was revealing. The only thing that seemed to be floating around her MAGA-pickled brain regarding habeas corpus was apparently Stephen Miller’s recent call to suspend habeas corpus entirely. When asked to define this foundational protection against government overreach, she instead described its complete elimination.
But beyond exposing her ignorance, Noem’s answer reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of constitutional power. The Constitution’s habeas corpus provision isn’t some presidential superpower — it’s actually a strict limitation on government authority:
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
This isn’t about presidential authority — it’s about strictly limiting when the government can suspend this fundamental right. And even then, it’s Congress’s power, not the president’s. When Noem smugly referenced Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus, she apparently missed that the courts explicitly rejected his authority to do so.
This isn’t some obscure constitutional detail — it’s basic structure-of-government stuff. The habeas clause appears in Article I (Congress) not Article II (Executive) for a reason. The fact that our Homeland Security Secretary doesn’t grasp this is more than just embarrassing — it’s dangerous.
Let’s be absolutely clear about what’s happening here: the person in charge of the department that detains more people than any other federal agency fundamentally misunderstands — or deliberately misrepresents — the constitutional right that protects against unlawful detention. She swore an oath to defend a Constitution she apparently hasn’t read, thinking it grants presidents (and, via appointment power, herself) the power to detain and deport at will, when it actually does the opposite.
This isn’t just about constitutional ignorance. Coming right after her El Salvador prison tourism and Miller’s calls to suspend habeas corpus, it reveals a broader authoritarian vision: one where fundamental rights are seen as inconvenient obstacles to be removed, rather than essential protections to be preserved. In normal times, this level of constitutional illiteracy would be disqualifying for any government role. But these aren’t normal times — and that’s precisely why defending these basic principles matters more than ever.
Filed Under: dhs, donald trump, due process, habeas corpus, kristi noem, maggie hassan, stephen miller
