Congress
New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver faces felony assault charge in conflict at ICE facility, court filing shows
New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver is facing a felony charge of assaulting a federal officer for allegedly pushing a pair of unnamed Homeland Security agents during a scuffle that broke out earlier this month as three House members were trying to visit an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, a court filing released Tuesday shows.
The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges McIver “slammed her forearm” into one agent and “forcibly” grabbed him. The Democratic congressmember is also accused of using “each of her forearms to forcibly strike” another officer, according to the complaint, which includes multiple photos from video cameras worn by officers, as well as others mounted outside the facility.
The complaint was presented to U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacey Adams on Monday evening, shortly before New Jersey’s interim U.S. Attorney, Alina Habba, announced the charge on X, escalating a confrontation between the political branches. Habba also agreed to drop the pending trespass charge against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat who is also running for governor.
The charge against McIver carries a maximum statutory punishment of eight years in prison, although defendants are typically sentenced in accordance with federal guidelines that usually result in sentences well below the maximum.
Under federal court rules, prosecutors will have 30 days to get a grand jury to obtain an indictment of McIver.
The court filing was released hours before a House subcommittee planned to hold a hearing examining the “threats to ICE operations.” The panel is led by fellow New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican. He referred to the incident in Newark, saying that “we’re going to go into … the actual scuffle itself.”
The charge follows a May 9 visit by McIver, along with her colleagues Reps. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), to a newly opened Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark that unfolded in a tussle and resulted in the arrest of Baraka.
McIver, who has maintained her innocence and denounced the charges as political, is likely to be summoned to appear before a magistrate judge in federal court in the coming days to be formally advised of the charges.
The charging document gives a fresh, written account of the day’s events from Department of Homeland Security special agent Robert Tansey.
Tansey gave a new account about how Baraka was able to enter a gated area at the detention facility. Baraka said he was invited in. Tansley said the mayor was able to enter “because the guard was under the impression that the Mayor was part of the Congressional delegation.”
Baraka was eventually asked to leave the gated area and told he would be arrested.
At the time, Blue Light News witnessed McIver and Watson Coleman appearing to mediate a negotiation between an agent and Baraka inside the gated area. According to Tansey, McIver and the other members of Congress “surrounded the Mayor and prevented [authorities] from handcuffing him and taking him into custody.”
Baraka eventually left the gated area. The three members of Congress who were still inside the gate headed back toward the facility.
“We will be your eyes and your ears and we will report to you, mayor,” Watson Coleman told Baraka, at a point where the situation seemed to have been defused.
Moments later, Menendez came back across the parking lot to warn Baraka that he could still be arrested. Menendez would later say that he’d witnessed an agent inside the fenced area talking on the phone with someone who told the agent to arrest Baraka. McIver gave a similar account.
Authorities approached Baraka to arrest him, setting off a scrum. Tansey said McIver “hurried outside towards the agents and attempted to thwart the arrest as others yelled ‘circle the mayor.’”
Tansey said McIver and others circled Baraka in a “human shield” to prevent the arrest. He said her attempts to “thwart the arrest” included allegedly slamming her forearm into and grabbing one agent and using her forearms to forcibly strike another.
Menendez said in a Monday night statement that, having witnessed everything firsthand, “I strongly believe that the administration should be apologizing to Rep. McIver, not arresting her on unprecedented, politicized charges.” The day of the incident, Menendez said that “all of us were touched” by federal authorities and said McIver had been shoved in what he called an “assault.”
McIver told reporters Tuesday morning that she is “looking forward to my day in court.” In a BLN interview on Tuesday, prior to the charging document becoming public, McIver called the Trump administration’s actions “political intimidation.” In response to a question about if she had attempted to negotiate a plea deal, McIver said she is “open to having conversations” but won’t “roll over and stop doing my job.”
“The Justice Department and Alina Habba wanted me to admit to doing something that I did not do, and I was not going to do that,” McIver said.
Madison Fernandez contributed to this report.
Senate Republicans confirmed dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees Friday, just before they leave for a five-week congressional recess.
Senators voted 51-47 to approve officials at the Departments of Defense, Energy, State and other agencies.
They included David Cummins to head the Transportation Security Administration, Cameron Hamilton to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hal Duncan to be OMB deputy director and Francis Brooke to be Treasury deputy secretary. Among the group were several ambassadors, including former Rep. David Brat to be ambassador to Australia.
Senate Republicans changed the chamber’s rules last year to be able to confirm lower-level nominees as a package instead of having to hold a vote on each.
After finishing the expedited procedure Friday, Senate Republicans estimate they will only have a small number of civilian nominees awaiting confirmation.
President Donald Trump said voters may seek to punish Republicans — but not him — in the November midterm elections, as GOP lawmakers sweat that affordability concerns and the war in Iran could mean Democrats flip the House and perhaps even the Senate.
“They’re angry at Republicans,” Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News that aired Friday. “But they’re not angry at me. They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.”
The GOP faces the prospect of heavy losses this November, as gas and grocery prices remain stubbornly high due in part to the White House’s five-month-long war in Iran. The administration’s guidance on campaign trail messaging has been “tone deaf,” House Republicans fear.
Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has tumbled since he returned to the Oval Office last year, and even his biggest supporters have grown frustrated over his Middle East war.
And with a messy, jam-packed slate of primaries now all but in the rearview mirror, Democrats are determined to go on offense. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has 58 seats on its midterm target map that stretches into redder territory — while still facing an uphill climb to take the Senate.
Trump has a massive war chest at his disposal. His MAGA Inc. super PAC reached $400 million in June. The president told Punchbowl he plans to use it to “help Republicans,” but he stressed that he faces no pressure in this campaign cycle.
“I said to somebody, ‘Wait a minute, you don’t understand, I won,’” Trump said, referencing his 2024 presidential election victory. “I’m not campaigning.”
The biggest issue for Republicans this year? That Trump himself is not on the ballot, he said.
“If I don’t run, will those people go out and vote? And that’s the one thing I can’t tell, I’m going to ask them to,” he said.
The Senate’s plan to get out of town is coming together.
Majority Leader John Thune teed up a final vote on the Russia sanctions legislation for this morning, as well as a confirmation vote for dozens of nominees and a procedural step on a stopgap funding bill.
But there’s still a number of questions that need to be answered if Thune wants to adjourn for recess by the end of the day:
— BLANCHE’S FATE: President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general needs to secure at least one more vote to be confirmed before the break.
It looks like it’s all up to Sen. Bill Cassidy after Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Friday morning she is opposed. Thune indicated Thursday night Blanche’s fate was uncertain and that leaders were “still working to get the final vote.”
— SAVE AMERICA ACT: Thune said to expect a vote related to the SAVE America Act as well as an initial vote on a budget blueprint for a third party-line spending bill — which includes elements of Trump’s election security legislation.
The decision to hold the budget vote comes after two Republican senators, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Blue Light News Thursday they believed Sen. Mike Lee or another member of the GOP’s right flank would have otherwise forced a vote on the framework.
But as we’ve previously reported, Republicans don’t believe the budget resolution has the votes within the conference to be adopted — meaning the expected initial vote today will fail to clear a simple majority threshold.
And it’s not clear Lee or like-minded senators will be satisfied and allow for lawmakers to adjourn for recess without more action on the elections measure. The senator has made similar threats over the past year but has never followed through.
— TIME AGREEMENT: GOP leaders need to strike an agreement to finish other business, including passing the stopgap government funding bill and advancing a college sports bill.
At this point, any single senator could still object to expediting the chamber’s agenda, which would derail Thune’s goal of getting members out of town by the end of the day.
“We’ve been having these conversations with Democrats trying to figure out what’s the path,” Thune said.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he added.
What else we’re watching:
— GOP EXPECTS CRYPTO BILL DELAY: The Senate will leave for the chamber’s August recess without holding a vote on a landmark cryptocurrency bill, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Thune may still file cloture on the bill, but it likely won’t come to the floor until lawmakers return to Washington next month, two of the people said.
— COLLEGE SPORTS BILL STUMBLES: Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell’s legislation to impose new guardrails on college sports is looking increasingly unlikely to hit the floor this week. Eleven senators objected to expedited consideration of the Protect College Sports Act after Thune filed cloture earlier this week, two people familiar with discussions told Blue Light News.
— OGLES OUSTED: GOP House leaders lost an incumbent — and a perennial headache — with Rep. Andy Ogles’ primary defeat in Tennessee Thursday night. His loss to former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher represents the second Trump-endorsed candidate to lose a primary this week.
Jordain Carney, Mia McCarthy, Andrew Howard and Jacob Wendler contributed to this report.
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