Congress
Eleanor Holmes Norton confirms her retirement as DC delegate
Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington’s nonvoting House delegate for 35 years, confirmed Tuesday she is retiring from office — more than 48 hours after a public filing terminating her reelection campaign.
“With pride in our accomplishments, gratitude to DC, and confidence in the next generation, I announced I’ll retire at the end of this term,” she said in a statement.
Norton, who is 88 and has faced serious questions about her fitness for office, said she would complete her 18th term.
“Although I’ve decided not to seek reelection, I will never falter in my commitment to the residents I have long championed,” she said, touting her success in securing the transfer of federal lands to local government control and the establishment of a federally funded college tuition assistance program for D.C. residents.
Norton stayed silent for days after her campaign filed termination paperwork Sunday morning — even as local politicians and dignitaries paid public tribute to Norton and her service to the city.
Norton has made limited public appearances in the past year, even as President Donald Trump targeted the city for a police takeover and immigration enforcement surge. She insisted for months she would run for reelection but raised barely any campaign cash as pressure to retire mounted and challengers began to line up against her.
Among the Democrats already vying to succeed her are D.C. Council members Brooke Pinto and Robert White, political strategist Kinney Zalesne and former Norton aide Trent Holbrook. The June 16 primary is all but certain to decide the next delegate in a city that hasn’t given a Republican presidential nominee more than 10 percent of the vote since 1988.
Congress
ICE, Border Patrol leaders to testify Feb. 10
Top officials from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will testify before the House Homeland Security Committee on Feb. 10, as lawmakers ramp up scrutiny of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown after the killing of Alex Pretti.
House Homeland Security Chair Andrew Garbarino said ICE acting director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow have agreed to appear.
Garbarino, a New York Republican, quickly called for the oversight hearing after federal agents shot and killed Pretti in Minneapolis Saturday.
“Transparency and communication are needed to turn the temperature down,” Garbarino said in a statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has overseen the Minneapolis operation, isn’t set to testify on Capitol Hill until March 3.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has called on the heads of ICE, CBP and USCIS to testify before his panel by Feb. 12.
Congress
Freedom Caucus pushes to fund DHS amid funding fight
House Freedom Caucus leaders are warning they will oppose a proposal favored by Senate Democrats to send an amended spending package back across the Capitol without Department of Homeland Security funding.
The ultimatum from the hard-right group comes as top leaders try to find a way to avoid a partial government shutdown late this week after Saturday’s DHS-involved shooting in Minneapolis threw the massive funding package passed by the House last week into jeopardy. Members of the group could potentially tank procedural votes required to advance any alternative funding package.
In a letter to President Donald Trump sent Tuesday, senior members of the group said they would “not allow Democrats to strip [DHS] funding out to pass other appropriations separately.”
“We cannot support giving Democrats the ability to control the funding of our Department of Homeland Security,” they added.
Senate Democrats want to break up the six-bill package sent over from the House, stripping out the DHS funding to renegotiate terms following the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti. But House GOP leaders privately believe that would open a new “hellscape” in the funding talks within the divided House Republican conference.
Congress
Democratic House leaders join push to impeach Kristi Noem
The leaders of the House Democratic caucus vowed on Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem if President Donald Trump does not fire her, citing a “DHS killing spree unleashed in Minnesota.”
The threat comes as Noem faces heightened scrutiny over her response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, the second killing by federal immigration agents in the city this month.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) in a joint statement called for “dramatic changes” at DHS and criminal prosecution of federal agents who have broken the law.
“Taxpayer dollars are being weaponized by the Trump administration to kill American citizens, brutalize communities and violently target law-abiding immigrant families,” the leaders wrote. “The country is disgusted by what the Department of Homeland Security has done.”
More than 140 House Democrats have signed on to an impeachment resolution against Noem, who is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March. GOP lawmakers and influential MAGA commentators have also publicly rebuked the Homeland Security secretary in recent days, saying her department’s aggressive immigration operation in Minnesota has overstepped.
“If Democrats cared this much about deporting violent, criminal illegal aliens, the American people would be much safer,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in response to the statement. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration signaled a possible shift in strategy on Monday, with the president sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis and announcing that Homan “will report directly to me.” The White House also pulled Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, a close ally of Noem’s whose response to the shooting also drew backlash, from his assignment in the city.
Still, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Noem retains “the utmost confidence and trust of the president of the United States,” and Trump told reporters Tuesday that “she’s done a very good job” and will not step down.
The Democratic leaders wrote in their statement that “the violence unleashed on the American people by the Department of Homeland Security must end forthwith,” adding: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
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