Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in early March, a spokesperson for committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told The Hill on Monday.

Noem is to testify on March 3, Grassley's office said.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., ranking Democrat on the committee, bashed Noem in a statement after she agreed to testify.

"Secretary Noem refused to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year and now tells us that she will be available in five weeks — should she still be DHS Secretary at that time," Durbin said.

"With all of the violence and deaths involving DHS, the Secretary is apparently in no hurry to account for her mismanagement of this national crisis. And she expects us to rubber stamp her record-breaking budget in the meantime," Durbin added.

A White House official pushed back Monday on speculation about leadership changes at the Department of Homeland Security, stressing that Noem continues to have the full backing of President Donald Trump.

Noem has come under fire for her response to the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents, with many Democrats calling for her impeachment and Senate Democrats vowing not to fund DHS.

The clarification followed Trump's announcement that border czar Tom Homan would take charge of immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota.

"Secretary Noem will continue to lead the Department of Homeland Security with the full trust and confidence of the president," a White House official told CNN.

The official emphasized that Homan's deployment was driven by operational urgency, not internal disagreement.

"Tom Homan is uniquely positioned to drop everything and focus solely on Minnesota to solve the problems that have been created by a lack of cooperation from state and local officials," the official added.

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