Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign Thursday during opening remarks at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland."

"You have systematically dismantled the Department of Homeland Security, put your own interests above the department, and violated the law. You are making America less safe," said Thompson. "So rather than sitting here and wasting your time and ours with more corruption, lies and lawlessness, I call on you to resign. Do a real service to the country and just resign. That is, if President Trump doesn't fire you first."

As Noem was giving her opening statement, several protesters against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) interrupted, yelling, "Get ICE off our streets," and, "Stop terrorizing our community."

The protesters were escorted out by Capitol Police and detained outside the hearing room.

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Noem, who was joined at the hearing by National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent and Michael Glasheen, the operations director of the National Security Branch of the FBI, said one of her grandchildren, who was in the audience, was crying a little during Thompson’s remarks.

"I don't think she agreed with him," Noem said jokingly.

She touted the work DHS has done to secure the southern border and protect the U.S.

"DHS is eradicating transnational organized crime and the stopping of deadly drugs from continuing to be funneled into our communities," she told lawmakers. "We're ending illegal immigration, returning sanity back to our immigration system, and we're defending against cyberattacks against our critical infrastructure."

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The former South Dakota governor, speaking about the global threats facing the country — including those posed by domestic extremists and radical Islamic terrorism — said the U.S. should brace for heightened risks as it prepares to host major events in 2026 such as the World Cup and the nation’s 250th birthday.

"These large-scale events will be potential targets for a range of bad actors, and they come with an increased level of risk. DHS is using every tool and authority we have to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens, and our visitors can enjoy next year's events," Noem added.

Rumors had swirled in recent days that President Donald Trump was considering replacing her as head of DHS. Trump pushed back on those rumors on Wednesday, telling reporters that Noem has been "fantastic."

Noem also addressed the rumors, speaking to Fox News prior to Thursday's hearing.

"Oh, that's absolutely not true," she said. "President Trump and I are doing wonderfully. I'm so proud to work for him, and I'm going to continue to serve at his pleasure."

Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought a surge in media access following the Biden administration, with hundreds of direct exchanges between a press corps he frequently blasts as "fake news" and a president who rarely ducks a question, according to exclusive data on his first year back in office.

Trump has participated in at least 433 open press events that stretched from official remarks to impromptu gaggles outside of Air Force One to press conferences where the president interacted with the media, as of Monday. The data, compiled by the White House Stenographer’s Office and provided to Fox News Digital, does not include quick exchanges, such as Trump answering a shouted question while greeting a foreign leader at the White House. 

"President Trump is the most transparent and accessible President in American history," White House spokeswoman Elizabeth Huston told Fox News Digital. "President Trump takes unrestricted questions from the legacy media and posts directly from his Truth Social account on the most important issues facing our nation every single day. The American people have never had a more direct and authentic relationship with a president of the United States than they have with President Trump."

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By contrast, former President Joe Biden's first year in office was mired in frustration that the media was shut out, including when he delayed holding his first press conference as president for more than two months into his term. In fact, Biden’s two-month stretch of avoiding a news conference was the longest in a century, since President Calvin Coolidge, known as "Silent Cal," according to The Washington Post.

The White House Stenographer's Office found that it transcribed 2.4 million words from open press events with Trump as of Monday, which is the equivalent to 4.1 "War and Peace" books, 31.1 "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" books, or 22.2 "The Art of the Deal" books, the White House said. 

Specifically, Trump participated in 156 press sprays, 13 general gaggles, 13 press conferences, 32 Marine One gaggles, 30 gaggles outside Air Force One, 41 gaggles while on the presidential plane and three formal press briefings, according to the data.

Those press sprays — informal media availabilities where the president fields a handful of questions during bilateral meetings, executive order signings and roundtables — accounted for 128 questions of the 292 questions Trump answered in open press settings.

A handful of Trump's open press events have been marathons that lasted well over an hour, including an October roundtable on Antifa that ran 95 minutes and a series of lengthy Cabinet meetings.

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Those meetings with Trump's Cabinet chiefs included a 105-minute session in April, a 124-minute meeting in July, a 138-minute meeting in December and, in August, the longest televised Cabinet meeting in U.S. history at 197 minutes.

Trump is known for not holding back when interacting with the media, frequently calling out reporters he believes print "fake news" and biased content before rolling to the next question during his numerous events. His fiery exchanges with reporters have frequently gone viral, including when he told one reporter "quiet, piggy" or another exchange in November where he called a reporter a "stupid person" when asked about the suspected murderer of U.S. National Guard member Spc. Sarah Beckstrom.

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Trump's love of public speaking and back-and-forth with reporters set White House stenographers on edge shortly after his inauguration in January, as they floated hiring additional staff to keep up with a pace far faster than under the quieter Biden administration.

Four years ago, as 2021 came to a close, The Associated Press reported that Biden held fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors, as well as fewer media interviews than any recent president. Fox News found that Biden participated in 53 press gaggles, 10 press conferences — including with foreign leaders — and 345 public events featuring his official remarks, such as executive order signings and speeches to federal agencies, though those frequently did not include interactions with the media. 

Biden's lack of access came to a head in March 2021 as reporters pressed the White House on why the president did not hold a press conference for weeks since his inauguration. 

"The president takes questions several times a week," then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki told the media when pressed about the lack of press access to the president in March 2021. "He took questions actually twice yesterday, which is an opportunity for the people covering the White House to ask him about whatever news is happening on any given day."

Many of Biden's appearances in 2021, as the pandemic continued, were video messages or public events that did not include taking questions from the press.

"Come on, press, you gotta go," Biden staffers were heard telling the media when the 46th president would wrap up public remarks. 

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Looking at his full term, Biden held 37 press conferences, 679 informal question-and-answer sessions and 151 interviews, according to the White House Transition Project, which tracks presidential transitions and media access.

The White House Transition Project also tallies how often presidents engage with the press on a daily basis.

By that measure, Trump averaged 1.9 media exchanges per workday in his first 100 days of his second administration, compared to Biden's 1.3, former President Barack Obama's 1.1 and former President George W. Bush's 1.1 interactions per workday. During Trump's first term, his first 100 days in office averaged 1.3 media interactions per workday.

"With an Average of 1.9 Press Sessions a Day, President Trump in 2025 Leads the Recent Presidential Pack Answering Reporters’ Queries. Not only did President Trump have more press interchanges than his predecessors during his first hundred days, but his regularly televised question-and-answer sessions with reporters caught the public’s attention," the White House Transition Project.