Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary episode, which aired on October 11, 2025, delivered more than just nostalgia—it became a lightning rod for political satire and real-world reactions. The iconic sketch comedy show reunited beloved SNL legends Amy Poehler and Tina Fey for a cold open that lampooned two of the most controversial political figures of the current moment: Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The result? A blend of biting parody, pointed political commentary, and a social media volley that extended the sketch’s reach far beyond Studio 8H.
The timing was impeccable. With the nation’s eyes on the ongoing government shutdown and recent contentious Senate hearings, SNL seized the moment to poke fun at the week’s political headlines. The cold open began with Poehler’s Bondi facing a fictionalized Senate Judiciary Committee, echoing Bondi’s real-life testimony just days earlier. Poehler, channeling Bondi’s combative style, greeted the senators with, “What’s up, nerds? Furious to be here,” before scoffing at the oath to tell the truth: “No.” The parody didn’t stop there; Poehler’s Bondi lobbed insults at the senators—“Before I don’t answer, I’d like to insult you personally”—a line that, while exaggerated, captured the spirit of Bondi’s actual exchanges with lawmakers (as reported by Deadline and Variety).
The sketch dove into the thorniest topics of Bondi’s recent Senate appearance: her stonewalling on questions about ICE operations in U.S. cities, her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, and her involvement in the indictment of former FBI director James Comey. Poehler’s Bondi brushed off a question about the Epstein files with, “I tried reading the Epstein files, but I got really bored. It’s so repetitive. ‘Trump this, Trump that.’ Yawn.” When pressed about private conversations with President Trump, she retorted, “I’m not going to discuss my private conversations with the president. I’m not telling you who fell asleep in the middle of a sentence, or who kept calling me Ivanka while patting his lap.”
Enter Tina Fey as Kristi Noem, sporting a DHS hat and hefting an assault rifle, a tongue-in-cheek nod to the militarization of federal agencies. Fey’s Noem declared, “That’s right, it’s me, Kristi. I spell my name with an ‘I’ because that’s how I thought it was spelled.” The character then launched into a satirical ICE recruitment pitch: “Do you need a job now? Yeah. Are you a big, tough guy? Yeah. Tough enough for the army or police? No. Do you take supplements that you bought at a gas station? Daily. Do you like to use zip ties because people in your life don’t trust you with keys? You know it. Suck on some of these, big boy. Welcome to ICE.” The line, as highlighted by Variety, lampooned the aggressive rhetoric surrounding immigration enforcement.
But perhaps the sharpest jab came when Fey’s Noem referenced the real-life controversy from Noem’s 2024 memoir, in which she described shooting a 14-month-old puppy named Cricket. “I’m the rarest type of person in Washington, D.C., a brunette that Donald Trump listens to,” Fey quipped, before adding, “The idea Democrats want the shutdown over makes me laugh more than the end of Old Yeller. … Dogs don’t just get shot. Heroes shoot them.” The joke, dark as it was, directly paralleled Noem’s own public defense of her actions, which had become a flashpoint in national debate and, according to USA TODAY, likely contributed to her being dropped from Trump’s vice-presidential shortlist.
The SNL segment wasn’t just a one-way street. Within hours, Pam Bondi herself responded on X (formerly Twitter), sharing a screenshot of the sketch and tagging Noem: “Should we recreate this picture in Chicago? Loving Amy Poehler!” The playful tone suggested Bondi was taking the ribbing in stride—at least publicly. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security’s official X account leaned into the moment, posting an ICE recruitment video that riffed on the SNL sketch and thanking the show for the “free advertisement.” The post included a link to JOIN.ICE.GOV and the slogan, “Get Criminals Out. Make History. Save America.”
Reactions didn’t end there. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin offered a pointed political comment to Entertainment Weekly, stating, “SNL is absolutely right — the Democrats’ shutdown does need to end!” The remark echoed the partisan blame game playing out in Washington, with each side accusing the other of prolonging the government closure. The SNL sketch itself had lampooned this dynamic, with Fey’s Noem laughing off the idea that Democrats wanted the shutdown over, a moment that resonated with viewers on both sides of the aisle.
While Kristi Noem herself remained publicly silent about the parody, her earlier defenses of the memoir story lingered in the public consciousness. “Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it’s hard and painful. I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor,” Noem wrote on X in 2024, as quoted by Deadline. The SNL writers, never ones to shy away from controversy, used this moment to highlight the intersection of personal character and public leadership—a line that, in this political era, often feels blurred.
The episode itself was a celebration of SNL’s storied past, with Poehler hosting and Fey joining her for a “Weekend Update” reunion. The show also featured a surprise “Parks and Recreation” reunion with Aubrey Plaza and a “joke off” segment that brought together several former anchors. But it was the cold open, with its razor-sharp satire and real-world reverberations, that captured the nation’s attention. The White House, for its part, dismissed the SNL jabs. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY, “Reacting to this would require me to waste my time watching it. And like the millions of Americans who have tuned out from ‘SNL,’ I have more entertaining things to do − like watch paint dry.”
As SNL gears up for its next episode with Sabrina Carpenter, the legacy of its 50th anniversary is already clear: the show remains a cultural touchstone, unafraid to lampoon power and provoke conversation. For Bondi, Noem, and the rest of America, Saturday night’s sketch was more than a comedy bit—it was a mirror held up to the absurdities and anxieties of the current political moment.
