Dems eye investigations, budget response to Minnesota ICE shooting — but leadership offers little strategy

WASHINGTON (CN) — Though some Democrats have floated the idea of leveraging looming budget negotiations after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a Minneapolis woman on Wednesday, party leadership has yet to endorse such a strategy.

Lawmakers have clamored for accountability after the Homeland Security Department confirmed reports that an ICE agent killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good behind the wheel of her car as she attempted to drive away from federal agents.

But Republicans and administration officials have defended the agent, who, based on witness video, appeared to have fired several shots from his service weapon through the windshield and open passenger’s side window of Good’s Honda SUV. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, senior White House adviser Stephen Miller and others accused the victim of attempting to ram federal agents with her car in what they’ve branded as an act of “domestic terrorism.”

Democrats, in the minority in both the House and Senate, are limited in their options for a legislative or oversight response to the shooting, which House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called “an abomination” during a Thursday news conference.

But with a government funding deadline fast approaching on Jan. 30 and lawmakers locked in appropriations negotiations, questions have swirled about whether Democrats would withhold their support for legislation funding the Homeland Security Department — and risk a government shutdown — to force Republicans to consider reforms.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy told reporters there were a “handful of ideas” for responding to the ICE shooting, including an approach that involved the appropriations process.

“I think it should be clear to Republicans that if they want Democratic votes for DHS appropriations, they’re going to have to work with us on our concerns,” said Murphy. “That’s how the Senate works.”

The lawmaker suggested, for example, that the Senate should consider whether U.S. Customs and Border Protection is “qualified” to operate in the interior of the country, away from the border. CBP agents and the agency’s commander, Gregory Bovino, have become the face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation operations in U.S. cities across the country.

Murphy, though, didn’t make any concrete statement about whether Democrats would scuttle the Homeland Security budget, pointing out that he didn’t know whether such an appropriations bill would get done in time for the Jan. 30 deadline. But he added that he wanted his colleagues to “understand what is necessary to get Democratic votes done.”

“I won’t be asking for the moon,” he said. “We’re not going to fix all of these issues, and I’m not looking for comprehensive immigration reform at all, but some targeted improvements in the way that ICE and CBP are operating, I think, are going to be necessary.”

But Democratic leaders in Congress dodged questions about whether appropriators should consider holding up the budget process over the Minneapolis shooting.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters during a news conference that the appropriations committees and their homeland security-focused subpanels would take up the issue and have a “very important and serious discussion.”

Jeffries said Democrats would respond “decisively” but did not provide any specifics, arguing it was too soon for lawmakers to be discussing legislative options. “Let’s deal with the tragedy right now,” said the top House Democrat. “She hasn’t even been buried — her family is grieving.”

Still, Jeffries claimed there was no evidence that ICE agents had been justified in shooting Good and slammed Noem’s characterization of the event, calling her a “stone-cold liar.”

Republicans, meanwhile, blamed Democrats for the shooting, claiming ICE agents and other federal law enforcement have been unfairly maligned.

“Democrats right now are starting down another dangerous road with their villainization of ICE officers,” Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt told reporters, adding that there had been a “1,000% increase in vehicle assaults” against federal agents. “They do not support law enforcement. … They have been radicalized.”

President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said Good “willfully” ran over the ICE agent who shot her, calling her “very disorderly, obstructing and resisting.” He blamed the “radical left” for the incident.

Vice President JD Vance agreed with the president, saying during a news conference at the White House that Good had been in Minneapolis to “interfere,” and took aim at members of the media for their coverage of the shooting. “She was trying to ram this guy with her car,” said Vance. “He shot back; he defended himself.”

Good was a mother of three children and had recently moved to Minnesota from Missouri. The Associated Press reported that she encountered federal agents while driving home after dropping off her 6-year-old son at school.

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