10:00 PM PST December 12, 2025) - N.S. EIC

Washington, D.C.—The annual “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland” hearing was already messy, but Kristi Noem managed to make it downright bloody. Midway through grilling from Democrats about deported veterans and ICE raids, the Homeland Security Secretary reportedly announced she had “started her period” and needed to leave immediately.

The timing was impeccable. Representative Seth Magaziner had just presented testimony from Sae Joon Park, a Purple Heart recipient forced to self-deport to South Korea, when Noem clutched her binder and whispered, “It’s happening.” She bolted from the chamber, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and bewildered lawmakers.

Representative Bennie Thompson, who had opened the hearing by calling for Noem’s resignation, quipped, “We subpoenaed her for answers, not Tampax.” Protesters in the gallery, who had already been chanting the Star Wars theme and shouting “The power of Christ compels you!” in opposition to ICE raids, now added “Pads not politics!” to their repertoire.

Noem’s office scrambled to explain her departure, insisting she had left for a FEMA Council meeting. Unfortunately, that meeting had already been canceled. Critics noted she lingered in the committee’s anteroom, perhaps negotiating whether to blame cramps or canceled calendars. Thompson accused her of lying to Congress, arguing she had fabricated the excuse to avoid accountability. Republicans blocked his motion to subpoena her back, but the damage was done.

The episode has become a flashpoint in the broader debate over immigration enforcement under Trump’s second term. Democrats argue her exit reflects a pattern of evasion, while Republicans defend her focus on national security threats. Outside the chamber, activists continue to highlight DHS’s aggressive tactics, including mass deportations and surveillance of immigrant communities.

Whether it was FEMA or flow, Noem’s exit was less about emergencies and more about evasion. As one observer put it: “She didn’t have good answers for tough questions, only excuses that leak credibility faster than a broken tampon.”se to full-blown oceanic delusion.