More than half of House Democrats back impeachment push against DHS chief Kristi Noem
More than half of all Democrats in the House of Representatives are now backing a resolution to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem in the wake of another federal law enforcement-involved shooting in Minneapolis. The push to impeach Noem, led by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., has 133 Democrats as co-sponsors endorsing the effort as of Monday morning, her office told Fox News Digital. That’s out of 213 total lawmakers in the House Democratic Caucus. It’s gaining steam among both progressive and moderate Democrats, like Rep. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., who announced on Sunday that she too would support impeaching Noem amid the chaos in Minneapolis. “Another U.S. citizen has been killed at the hands of ICE and there must be accountability, which is why Secretary Noem must be impeached immediately,” Gillen posted on X. BONDI BLAMES MINNEAPOLIS LEADERS AFTER ARMED SUSPECT KILLED, UNREST ERUPTS DURING ICE OPERATION It’s a notable expression of support; Gillen was one of only seven House Democrats to vote in favor of funding DHS last week as part of Congress’ yearly federal appropriations process. The surge of support comes after Alex Pretti, a nurse at Minneapolis’ Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent over the weekend during a wider demonstration against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the Midwest city. Noem said over the weekend that it appeared Pretti “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.” “An individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently. Fearing for his life and for the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots,” she said. FREY, KLOBUCHAR CALL FOR ICE TO LEAVE MINNEAPOLIS FOLLOWING DEADLY CBP SHOOTING IN CITY But various eyewitness accounts and critics of the Trump administration have disputed claims that Pretti was brandishing a weapon, though he was confirmed to be in possession of a handgun with a legal permit to carry. Publicly circulated video of the incident shows him approaching federal officers holding what appeared to be his phone, filming as agents knocked a female agitator to the ground. Pretti appeared to attempt to help the female agitator when he was knocked to the ground himself. One video angle appears to show an officer removing Pretti’s weapon before he was shot. The majority of Republicans have criticized Democratic leaders in Minnesota for fomenting anger toward federal officers among the population and for refusing to cooperate in Trump’s offensive against illegal immigrants in the first place. Meanwhile, Democrats have accused Trump officials of letting federal agents run amok with impunity and cause chaos in Minneapolis. It’s not clear if House Democratic leaders will support Kelly’s push to impeach Noem now, but Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters to “stay tuned” last week when asked about the effort. Any push to impeach Noem during this congressional term would likely be largely symbolic, however. It’s highly unlikely that enough Republicans would vote with Democrats on the resolution to pass the House, or that it will get the 60 votes in the Senate needed for removal. House Democrats’ furor to boot Noem from her post has not quite made its way to the upper chamber, but it got support from one key moderate in the party. NOEM SAYS ‘ARRESTS COMING’ AFTER ANTI-ICE MOB TARGETED MINNESOTA CHURCH Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., echoed her colleagues in the lower chamber and demanded that the DHS head be impeached for being an “abject failure” at leading the agency. Rosen, like several other congressional Democrats, reacted sharply to Pretti’s killing and, so far, is the only Senate Democrat calling for Noem’s impeachment. The lawmaker argued that Noem’s usage of ICE in Minnesota was the “latest proof” of her losing control over her own agency. “Kristi Noem and her department’s latest attempt to mislead the American public regarding the brutal and unjustified killing of Alex Pretti is deeply shameful, and she must be impeached and removed from office immediately,” Rosen said. Rosen’s position carries weight, too, given that she is one of the more moderate members of the Senate Democratic caucus, and she was also one of a handful to cross the aisle to reopen the government during the longest closure in history last year. Senate Democrats are now ready to block the DHS funding bill as the deadline to fund the government and prevent another shutdown fast approaches. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital of Democrats’ efforts, “DHS enforces the laws Congress passes, period. If certain members don’t like those laws, changing them is literally their job.” “While ICE officers are facing a staggering 1,300% spike in assaults, too many politicians would rather defend criminals and attack the men and women who are enforcing our laws and did nothing while Joe Biden facilitated an invasion of tens of millions of illegal aliens into our country,” McLaughlin said. “It’s time they focus on protecting the American people, the work this Department is doing every day under Secretary Noem’s leadership.”
‘Michigan’s government is pathetic’: Perry Johnson mounts gubernatorial bid as Gov Whitmer’s exit approaches
Businessman Perry Johnson announced a Michigan gubernatorial bid on Monday. “I am running for Governor of Michigan. My business experience brought quality and efficiency to help save the auto industry. We can deliver better services at lower cost by running state government with efficiency, accountability, and a results-driven mindset,” he wrote in a post on X. The post featured a campaign video that asserted, “Michigan’s government is pathetic.” Johnson’s campaign site indicates that he supports the idea of eliminating Michigan’s state income tax. WHITE HOUSE SAYS TRUMP GAVE ‘APPROPRIATE’ RESPONSE AFTER HECKLER CONFRONTATION CAUGHT ON VIDEO AT FORD PLANT Johnson ran for president for part of 2023 before dropping out and endorsing President Donald Trump. Trump responded to the endorsement in a 2023 Truth Social post, calling Johnson “a brilliant Businessman who has enjoyed great success.” BUSINESSMAN PERRY JOHNSON ANNOUNCES 2024 PRESIDENTIAL BID Johnson tried to pursue the 2022 Michigan Republican gubernatorial nomination but was one of multiple candidates disqualified from the primary ballot, according to the Detroit Free Press. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, is currently serving her second term, and is thus not eligible to run again. Johnson is jumping into a crowded Republican gubernatorial field that includes former state Attorney General Mike Cox, U.S. Rep. John James, former State House Speaker Tom Leonard and State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, according to the Detroit Free Press. GOV WHITMER SAYS AMERICA ‘READY FOR A WOMAN PRESIDENT,’ CONTRASTING MICHELLE OBAMA “Perry Johnson is just the latest extreme, out-of-touch candidate to join Michigan’s chaotic Republican primary,” Democratic Governors Association Communications Director Sam Newton said in a statement. “From being all-in on Donald Trump’s harmful, cost-raising agenda and supporting an abortion ban to spending over $7 million dollars on his last failed gubernatorial campaign, it’s clear Johnson will make Michigan Republicans’ already ugly and bruising primary even more chaotic and expensive,” Newton added. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
Battleground GOP lawmaker moves to block what he calls Democratic redistricting ‘power grab’
FIRST ON FOX: A battleground district House Republican is wading into the redistricting war that has seized the U.S. with his own new proposal to crack down on “partisan gamesmanship.” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., has introduced a bill called the Fair Apportionment and Independent Redistricting for Maps that Avoid Partisanship (FAIR MAP) Act, which would impose new guardrails on the process of changing congressional districts across all 50 states. The bill would bar states from drawing districts for or against a specific political party or candidate and ban the creation of new congressional maps more than once a decade following the U.S. census. It comes as election watchers eye Virginia and Maryland as the latest states whose Democrat-led legislatures could move to redraw their congressional boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. REDISTRICTING BATTLES BREWING ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS PARTIES COMPETE FOR POWER AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS Earlier this month, a state Supreme Court judge in Lawler’s own home turf of New York ruled that New York City’s lone Republican-held district is unconstitutional and must be redrawn — handing potentially a consequential win to Democrats. Lawler said of Democrats’ push in his state, “[Gov. Kathy Hochul] and [House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’] scheme to redraw New York’s congressional districts months before an election is a blatant power grab and misuse of public office.” The growing redistricting war was kicked off last year when Texas’ GOP-led legislature approved a new congressional map that could give Republicans as many as five new seats in the House of Representatives come the November elections. Redistricting normally occurs every 10 years after the U.S. census is taken to ensure that seats in the House are reflective of each state’s population. And while there’s a patchwork of state laws aimed at blocking those districts from being redrawn along partisan lines, there is no current federal standard. In addition to banning mid-decade redistricting in most cases and creating a federal gerrymandering standard, Lawler’s bill would also create a host of new provisions dictating how those populations are ultimately counted and how disputes can be resolved. The bill would block state and local courts from legal redistricting fights, for example, leaving it to federal judges to weigh in on those fights. DOJ URGES SUPREME COURT TO BLOCK CALIFORNIA MAP, CALLS NEWSOM-BACKED PLAN A RACIAL GERRYMANDER It would also mandate that just U.S. citizens are counted toward state populations when creating new maps — something that could take a significant amount of power away from sanctuary jurisdictions that can currently factor numbers of illegal immigrants who cannot vote when apportioning districts. The legislation also includes new electoral provisions like barring ranked-choice voting in federal elections, requiring photo ID for voting in those elections, and banning same-day registration in federal elections. Lawler was among the House Republicans who forcefully came out against the growing redistricting war last summer, when leaders in Texas and California were going toe-to-toe with threats to redraw their maps. But it does not appear likely as of now that his bill will get taken up for a House-wide vote, given House GOP leaders’ prior insistence that redistricting is a states’ issue. “Voting rights and equal representation only work if the system itself is fair, transparent, and trusted. My FAIR MAP Act puts clear guardrails around congressional redistricting, ends mid-decade political map rigging, and ensures that federal elections reflect the voices of lawful voters, not partisan gamesmanship,” Lawler told Fox News Digital. “Every voter deserves confidence that the system is fair and that their vote counts the same as anyone else’s.”
Trump deploys border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota as ICE operations face violent chaos
President Donald Trump is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, the president announced on Monday. Trump said Homan will report “directly to me” and will help lead the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Justice Department and Congress are also investigating Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Trump says. “I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Separately, a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets,” he continued. GO BIG, THEN GO SMART: TRUMP, ICE AND THE LAW. HOW TO SKIP THE LEFT’S PR TRAP “Additionally, the DOJ and Congress are looking at ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars. Time will tell all,” he added. Homan’s deployment comes amid widespread unrest in the Twin Cities over the deployment of ICE. Two anti-ICE protesters have been killed by federal agents this month, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Pretti’s killing over the weekend is under fresh investigation. JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM ‘DESTROYING OR ALTERING’ EVIDENCE IN DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not clarify whether Homan’s deployment means Trump has lost confidence with existing ICE leadership in Minnesota. “Tom Homan will be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and coordinating with others on the ongoing fraud investigations,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital. The Trump administration blames organized agitators for harassing ICE operations, which are targeting criminal illegal aliens. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump has lost confidence with the federal law enforcement leaders already on the ground in Minnesota. Federal officials say violent unrest in Minneapolis directly derailed one immigration arrest last week, leaving an ICE agent permanently maimed after a protester bit off part of his finger. U.S. Border Patrol Commander at Large Greg Bovino said during a press conference on Sunday that Border Patrol and ICE agents were forced to abandon a targeted operation after crowds interfered, assaulted officers and turned the scene chaotic. As a result, he said, the suspect escaped custody. He blamed this solely on the decisions made by politicians, activists and those who confronted law enforcement officials. “This individual is still roaming the streets today,” Bovino said. “This individual walks the streets today because of those choices made by politicians and those, perhaps, weaker-minded constituents that chose to follow directions of those politicians. Sad state of affairs.”
GOP senators launch task force to crack down on fraud tied to Minnesota scandal
FIRST ON FOX: A cohort of Senate Republicans plans to launch a targeted task force aimed at tackling fraudsters in the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandal. Republican members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee announced that they would form a task force dedicated to rooting out fraudsters abusing federal funding. The seven-member panel will be led by HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., who has cranked up efforts in recent weeks to crack down on fraud, particularly in Minnesota. KEY SENATOR WON’T FUND DHS AS ICE, FEDERAL AGENTS ENTER HIS STATE “Our tax dollars are supposed to help American families, not line the pockets of fraudsters,” Cassidy said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “HELP Committee Republicans are committed to rooting out this fraud and ensuring Americans’ tax dollars are used responsibly.” The long-running, nearly six-year-long investigation into alleged fraud in Minnesota gained new attention and traction among Republicans and the White House earlier this year. The scandal, in which federal prosecutors estimate that up to $9 billion was stolen through a network of fraudulent fronts posing as daycare centers, food programs and health clinics, has dominated the bandwidth of many in the GOP and spurred the Trump administration’s deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents into Minneapolis. The majority of those charged, so far, in the ongoing investigation are part of Minnesota’s Somali population. The Trump administration has taken steps outside the deploying of ICE agents to target Somalis in the area, too, including ending protected status for the population and launching investigations into whether the fraudulent activity is connected to al-Shabab, a terrorist organization based in Somalia. SENATE DEMS REVOLT AGAINST DHS FUNDING BILL AMID MINNEAPOLIS CHAOS, HIKING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN RISK The task force will delineate its focus into three prongs: health, education and labor and pensions. Those three subgroups will be led by Sens. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who will lead the health-focused section, Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Jon Husted, who will lead the education-focused group, and R-Ohio, Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., who will chair the labor-and-pensions-focused section. But the task force’s announcement comes at a precarious time, as lawmakers hurtle toward what could be another government shutdown fueled in large part by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) actions in Minnesota. SENATE DEMOCRATS REBEL AGAINST THEIR OWN LEADERSHIP OVER DHS FUNDING PACKAGE, INCREASING SHUTDOWN ODDS That situation comes after Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., signaled their plan to reject the DHS funding bill following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday by a border patrol agent. Cassidy, along with a handful of other congressional Republicans, demanded that the incident receive a fulsome and thorough investigation. Still, Cassidy’s effort is not the first time he’s forayed into the Minnesota fraud scandal. Earlier this month, the lawmaker led the entire Senate GOP in a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, demanding that he provide receipts on several issues, and warned that failure to do so could lead to several streams of federal money flowing to Minnesota drying up. That effort was centered on several requests, like how often the state conducted on-site monitoring, inspections or investigative visits to childcare facilities that received federal dollars. Senate Republicans specifically wanted examples of any information uncovered on fake children, false attendance records, over-billing, ineligible enrollments, and shell or fake business structures, among other demands from Walz.
Trump’s NATO warning pushes Europe to face the cost of defending itself
Speaking to global leaders in Davos, Switzerland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a blunt warning to Europe about its self-defense. “Europe needs to know how to defend itself,” he said, arguing that the continent still isn’t ready to stand on its own without U.S. backing. Zelensky’s remarks reflected a growing anxiety across Europe — that decades of reliance on American protection left the continent ill-prepared for a more dangerous era. While European countries have contributed troops, weapons and money to conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine, the ultimate backstop for NATO’s security has remained Washington. President Donald Trump has openly challenged that assumption, repeatedly warning NATO allies that U.S. protection should not be taken for granted, and insisting the U.S. needed to take Greenland from Denmark Before he ruled out the use of force to wrest control of the island, European officials had worried about a military dust-up between Western powers would mean the end of NATO. “Maybe we should have put NATO to the test: Invoked Article 5, and forced NATO to come here and protect our Southern Border from further Invasions of Illegal Immigrants, thus freeing up large numbers of Border Patrol Agents for other tasks,” Trump mused on Truth Social Thursday. Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. may not defend allies that fail to invest in their own security rattled the alliance and pushed European governments to pledge sharp increases in defense spending. Even so, European leaders continue to acknowledge how central U.S. power remains to NATO’s defense. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has pointed to the American nuclear umbrella as the alliance’s “ultimate guarantor,” alongside a strong U.S. conventional presence in Europe. “We are still having a strong, conventional U.S. presence in Europe,” Rutte said, “and, of course, the nuclear umbrella as our ultimate guarantor.” TRUMP: EUROPE WILL ‘TAKE A LOT OF THE BURDEN’ IN PROVIDING SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE Security analysts say that long-standing guarantee shaped Europe’s choices over time. “For much of the post–Cold War period, it is fair to say that Europeans underinvested in defense, partly because threats were low, and partly because a series of U.S. presidents did everything they could to convince Europeans that we would stay there forever,” Barry Posen, a professor of political science at MIT, told Fox News Digital. “Trump was right to argue that Europeans have been slow to fix up their forces as the situation changed — as Russia pulled itself back together and became more demanding and threatening, and as China also grew its power,” Posen said. But Posen warned that driving a wedge inside NATO carries risks. “The problem Trump faces is that ‘conditional commitments’ make challenges more likely,” he said. “And then we would still have to decide what to do. As a great power, in the event of an actual challenge, we might not wish to look weak.” Over time, those choices carried political consequences. With American power serving as the backstop, defense spending was easier to restrain than politically popular domestic subsidies such as healthcare, pensions and education, which became entrenched in European politics. As defense demands rise, governments are running into those constraints. In Italy, officials have warned that boosting military spending to meet NATO commitments would strain an already tight budget, where pensions and social benefits account for a large share of public spending. ZELENSKYY BLASTS GLOBAL INACTION ON IRAN, CLAIMS EUROPE STUCK IN ‘GREENLAND MODE’ Germany found a way to buy time. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Berlin created a €100 billion special defense fund — financed through new borrowing and kept outside the regular budget — to rebuild its military without immediately cutting other spending. The move jump-started rearmament while shielding popular social programs from near-term cuts. But the fund is temporary. Once it runs out, sustaining higher defense spending will require permanent budget decisions inside a system built around strict fiscal rules and expansive social commitments. John Byrne of Concerned Veterans for America said Europe’s dependence on the United States runs deeper than defense budgets. Even as European governments pledge more spending, Byrne said they still lack the senior-level experience needed to run NATO operations without U.S. leadership. “They don’t have the experience,” Byrne said, pointing to the fact that large, multinational military commands have overwhelmingly been led by American generals for decades. “That institutional knowledge still sits almost entirely with the United States.” Byrne said that gap matters in a crisis. Running complex, coalition military operations requires years of practice at the highest levels, he said — something that cannot be fixed quickly, even with higher spending. “You can buy equipment,” Byrne said. “You can’t instantly buy command experience.” During his address at Davos on Thursday, Zelenskyy questioned whether Europe has the power or the will to act independently if assumptions about U.S. protection change. “Europe still feels more like geography, history, tradition, not a real political force, not a great power,” Zelenskyy said. He warned that European leaders continue to plan around expectations that may no longer hold. “To believe that the United States will act, that it will not stand aside and will help,” Zelenskyy said. “But what if it doesn’t? This question is everywhere in the minds of European leaders.”
World Health Organization says US withdrawal makes the nation and the world ‘less safe’
The World Health Organization on Saturday warned that America’s withdrawal from the agency will make the country and the world “less safe.” The globalist body said in part of a January 24 statement that it “regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal from WHO – a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe.” “We hope that in the future, the United States will return to active participation in WHO,” the statement noted. US FORMALLY EXITS WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, LOCKING IN TRUMP’S BREAK FROM GLOBAL HEALTH BODY The U.S. announced its withdrawal from the WHO last week, after President Donald Trump got the ball rolling on his first day back in office last year. “Today, the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO), freeing itself from its constraints, as President Trump promised on his first day in office by signing E.O. 14155,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in part of a January 22, 2026, joint statement. UN CHIEF ACCUSES US OF DITCHING INTERNATIONAL LAW AS TRUMP BLASTS GLOBAL BODIES “Going forward, U.S. engagement with the WHO will be limited strictly to effectuate our withdrawal and to safeguard the health and safety of the American people. All U.S. funding for, and staffing of, WHO initiatives has ceased,” their statement said. They claimed the WHO “pursued a politicized, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests.” But the WHO pushed back. TRUMP FLOATS ‘BOARD OF PEACE’ TO REPLACE UN, SIGNALS MAJOR GLOBAL POWER SHIFT “This is untrue. As a specialized agency of the United Nations, governed by 194 Member States, WHO has always been and remains impartial and exists to serve all countries, with respect for their sovereignty, and without fear or favor,” the WHO said in its statement.
JD Vance shares ‘crazy’ story of ICE and CBP officers being mobbed in Minneapolis
Vice President JD Vance on Sunday shared what he called a “crazy” account underscoring the dangers federal immigration officers are facing in Minneapolis, amid a series of agent-involved shootings and escalating unrest. Recounting a recent visit to the city, Vance described an incident in which off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were doxxed while dining at a restaurant. According to Vance, their location was publicly revealed, the restaurant was mobbed, and the officers were effectively trapped inside. “When I was in Minneapolis, I heard a number of crazy stories. But near the top of the list: A couple of off duty ICE and CBP officers were going to dinner in Minneapolis,” Vance wrote on X. “They were doxed and their location revealed, and the restaurant was then mobbed. The officers were locked in the restaurant.” ALEX PRETTI, 37, IDENTIFIED AS MAN FATALLY SHOT BY BORDER PATROL AGENT IN MINNEAPOLIS Vance said local police refused to respond when the officers called for help. “The officers were locked in the restaurant, and local police refused to respond to their pleas for help (as they’ve been directed by local authorities),” he wrote. “Eventually, their fellow federal agents came to their aid.” BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA SLAM ICE AFTER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING, URGE ACCOUNTABILITY “This is just a taste of what’s happening in Minneapolis because state and local officials refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement,” Vance wrote. “They have created the chaos so they can have moments like yesterday, where someone tragically dies and politicians get to grandstand about the evils of enforcing the border.” Vance urged Minneapolis officials to change course. “The solution is staring everyone in the face. I hope authorities in Minneapolis stop this madness.” A day earlier, Vance described the unrest in Minnesota as “engineered chaos” following another fatal federal agent-involved shooting. NOEM SAYS MINNEAPOLIS SUSPECT COMMITTED ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM,’ ACCUSES WALZ, FREY OF INCITING VIOLENCE On Saturday, 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse who was carrying a licensed handgun while protesting a federal immigration enforcement operation, was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Authorities say Pretti resisted arrest after trying to intervene in the operation. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
Federal immigration officials privately fume over DHS claims after deadly Minnesota shooting
Deep internal divisions have emerged within federal immigration enforcement over how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is handling the public fallout and messaging after a deadly Border Patrol shooting in Minneapolis, Fox News has learned. More than half a dozen federal law enforcement officials involved in immigration enforcement tell Fox News there is growing frustration with how senior officials have framed the incident publicly, fueling internal debates about tone, strategy and credibility as scrutiny intensifies. The shooting happened during a morning immigration enforcement operation Saturday, when a Border Patrol agent fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and Veterans Affairs intensive care unit nurse. Authorities say Pretti was armed with a handgun and two magazines. In the hours and days that followed, DHS officials publicly described Pretti as a domestic terrorist and said he was attempting to “inflict maximum damage” on federal agents or carry out a “massacre,” language that has drawn internal criticism from within the department, Fox News is told. VANCE CALLS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST ‘ENGINEERED CHAOS’ AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING Officials say multiple videos that later emerged have called into question the DHS narrative, fueling frustration among agents who believe senior officials moved too quickly to characterize the incident before all facts were known. The internal disputes, officials say, have been damaging from a public relations and morale standpoint, eroding trust and credibility and intensifying broader debates within the administration over how DHS leadership handles high-profile, politically charged incidents. The officials who spoke with Fox News said they support the mass deportation agenda, though they have serious hesitations about the messaging and how the agenda is being carried out. GOP LAWMAKER RENEWS OVERSIGHT HEARING REQUEST OF DHS AGENCIES FOLLOWING FATAL SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS Some also expressed frustration that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is routinely blamed for the actions of the Border Patrol, which is a separate agency. Some officials described DHS’ response to the shooting as “a case study on how not to do crisis PR,” with one saying they are so “fed up” that they wish they could retire, another saying “DHS is making the situation worse,” and another adding that “DHS is wrong” and “we are losing this war, we are losing the base and the narrative.” Fox News reached out to DHS for comment on concerns that its rhetoric and communications may have damaged the agency’s credibility. BORDER PATROL-INVOLVED SHOOTING REPORTED IN MINNEAPOLIS “We have seen a highly coordinated campaign of violence against our law enforcement,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News. “This individual committed a federal crime while armed as he obstructed an active law enforcement operation. As with any situation that is evolving, we work to give swift, accurate information to the American people as more information becomes available.” Officials say those internal frictions have now escalated, with widespread criticism that the aggressive tactics pushed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem are eroding public support for the mass deportation agenda and putting federal agents at risk. Fox News previously reported in October that deep internal friction had emerged within the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort, with competing camps inside DHS divided over enforcement priorities, tactics and how aggressively to carry out deportations.
Trump confirms federal review of Minneapolis shooting that killed nurse: ‘Reviewing everything’
President Trump confirmed his administration is “reviewing everything” in the wake of the Minneapolis shooting that left 37-year-old nurse Alex J. Pretti dead. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Trump stopped short of confirming whether the federal agent who fired the fatal shots on Jan. 24 acted appropriately. “We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump told the outlet as questions mounted over the incident and the broader immigration operation in the city. Pretti, an ICU nurse, was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent while filming federal officers on a Minneapolis street. GOP SEN. CASSIDY BREAKS WITH TRUMP OVER DEADLY SHOOTING BY BORDER PATROL AGENT IN MINNEAPOLIS The officer’s operation was targeting Jose Huerta-Chuma, an illegal immigrant with a criminal history including domestic assault for intentional conflict bodily harm, disorderly conduct and driving without a valid license. Federal officials initially claimed Pretti approached agents with a 9 mm handgun and resisted disarmament. Bystander video and eyewitness accounts circulating online raised questions about that version of events and whether Pretti was threatening officers when he was shot. TIM WALZ COMPARES MINNESOTA ICE ACTIONS TO HOLOCAUST AND ANNE FRANK: ‘HIDING IN THEIR HOUSES’ “I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump said, adding that Pretti carried “a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines… That doesn’t play good either.” Trump also tied the federal presence in Minnesota to what he described as a sprawling welfare-fraud scandal in the state, arguing that immigration enforcement was necessary to address broader abuses. “It’s the biggest fraud anyone has seen,” the president said. The fraud claims in the state have been a central part of the administration’s need to ramp up federal operations there. VANCE CALLS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST ‘ENGINEERED CHAOS’ AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING The Minneapolis shooting of Pretti also marked the second death that happened in a confrontation between federal immigration officers and civilians in the city. Renee Good was shot and killed on Jan. 7 by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent during a different operation. That incident fueled protests and spotlighted the role of ICE in domestic law enforcement actions. “At some point we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” Trump said without offering a time frame for when agents might depart. “We’ll leave a different group of people there for the financial fraud,” he told the outlet. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has also stressed cooperation among law enforcement as essential. “Nobody, including President Trump, wants to see people get shot or hurt,” Leavitt said, urging officials to work more closely with the administration in addressing undocumented individuals living in the country illegally.