DHS may seem large and lawless at the moment, but like any part of the executive branch, it needs money to function.
Government funding expires at the end of January. DHS must get a new budget before then or it will run out of money.
After Renee Good’s shooting, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem signed an illegal order stating that every member of Congress must give one week’s notice before visiting an ICE facility.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) posted on Bluesky that Noem’s action is one of the reasons Congress must rein in ICE:
Members of Congress have a clear, precisely defined right under existing DHS funding law to enter these facilities without this notice.
So if Congress wants to continue funding DHS, there must be meaningful restrictions to rein in this blatant lawlessness.
Senator Murphy proposes requiring arrest warrants, banning ICE from wearing masks, and limiting the use of firearms for any potential civil action by ICE.
Murphy was asked on NBC’s Meet The Press whether any of these reforms could pass the Senate, and his answer revealed that Democrats have significant leverage over Trump, Republicans and ICE.
Read more below.
