DHS might seem big and lawless currently, but like any part of the executive branch, it needs money to operate.
Government funding expires at the end of January. DHS needs to have a new budget passed before then, or they will run out of money.
After the shooting of Renee Good, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem signed an illegal order stating that any member of Congress must provide one week of advance notice before they can visit an ICE facility.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) posted on Bluesky that Noem’s action is one reason why Congress must rein in ICE:
Members of Congress have a clear, spelled out legal right under the existing DHS funding bill to be allowed into these facilities without this notice.
So if Congress is going to keep funding DHS, there must be meaningful restraints to rein in this brazen lawlessness.
Sen. Murphy is proposing requiring warrants for arrests, banning ICE from wearing masks, and limiting the use of firearms for any ICE civil action.
Murphy was asked on NBC’s Meet The Press if any of these reforms can pass the Senate, and his answer revealed that Democrats have a key piece of leverage over Trump, Republicans, and ICE.
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