Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called on the Republican-controlled Legislature to act on a broad array of his priorities in his final year in office, even if it means working for longer than they are scheduled to be in session.
Republicans are unlikely to follow Evers’ call to action on many of the proposals he outlined in a letter, just a year after they rejected the same or similar ideas in his state budget. But Evers expressed optimism that bipartisan agreement is near on several issues, including protecting funding for SNAP, the country’s main food aid program, and combating water pollution caused by PFAS chemicals.
“We have a year left and it’s not all about me,” Evers, who opted against seeking a third term, told reporters on Monday. “All of the things that need to be addressed, many of them can be.”
Evers has served as the swing state’s governor since 2019, helping Democrat Joe Biden narrowly win the state on the way to becoming president in 2020. President Donald Trump carried Wisconsin in 2024 and in 2016, both times by less than 1 percentage point.
Evers’ term ends in a year, but he’s focused on setting up his party to take back the legislative majority for the first time since they lost it in 2010.
In 2024 Evers signed new district maps that helped Democrats chip into Republican majorities in the Assembly and Senate. Democrats are also counting on anger toward Trump helping them in the midterm.
The Legislature is scheduled to be done with its session by mid-March, giving lawmakers more time to campaign for the fall election. The Assembly is planning to quit in mid-February. But Evers said Monday that there’s still time to advance Democratic priorities.
“I think it’s bad politics to say we’re done in February, we’re done in March, and we’ll see you at the polls,” Evers said. “That doesn’t work. I don’t think it’s a good message. We have the opportunity to do some good things.”
Evers called for bipartisanship to tackle issues that have long been Democratic priorities, such as increasing public school funding, lowering health care costs and enacting gun control laws.
While many of his proposals are likely to be summarily rejected, Evers said Democrats and Republicans were close on reaching deals to release $125 million in funding to combat PFAS pollution. He also said both sides were close to an agreement that would put additional safeguards in place to ensure Wisconsin isn’t penalized by the federal government for errors in who gets SNAP food assistance.
Evers called on lawmakers to spend $1.3 billion more on public schools in an effort to reduce property taxes, a month after homeowners across the state received higher tax bills. Republicans blame Evers because of a veto he issued that allows schools to increase spending limits for 400 years. But that is only one part of the complicated school aid formula. Evers and school officials have said funding from the state has not kept pace with expenses, forcing schools to ask voters to approve referendums for an increase in property taxes to make up the difference.
If schools aren’t given more money, Evers said “we’re in a world of hurt” because property taxes will only continue to increase.
Republican legislative leaders, in interviews with The Associated Press last month, did not express support for increasing general school aid funding.
“We have to have a bigger conversation about how we’re going to fund schools long term than just saying we’re gonna put more money to the same formula doing the same thing,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said.
Evers also urged the Legislature to make progress on his plan to close a 128-year-old prison in Green Bay as part of a larger overhaul of the correctional system. In October, the state building commission approved $15 million for planning. But once that is spent, absent further action, the work will stall, Evers said.
“We have to get this across the finish line,” he said.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.
Gov. Tony Evers urges Wisconsin Legislature to act on his key priorities in his final year is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Anticipated spikes in demand for energy to supply Wisconsin’s data center building boom come on the heels of decades of declining power and water use, according to a new report.
A Wisconsin Policy Forum analysis shows there are more than 40 data centers operating in Wisconsin with another four planned. The sprawling facilities host computer servers, which store data and support a global surge in the use of artificial intelligence.
The data center building boom has been met by local opposition groups concerned about the facilities’ resource needs. But the Policy Forum report shows it’s all happening after years of declines in demand for electricity and water.
Using projections submitted to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission by utility companies, the Policy Forum estimates the state’s peak electrical demand is expected to increase to around 17 gigawatts by 2030, driven largely by data centers. In 2024, Wisconsin’s peak demand was rated at 14.6 gigawatts. Over the past 20 years, total electricity sales have fallen by 9% over the past 20 years.
Wisconsin Policy Forum Senior Research Associate Tyler Byrnes told WPR a big part of the decline since 2005 is due to fewer commercial customers paired with more energy efficiency measures. He said during that span, utilities have pulled aging, coal-fired power plants offline and shifted toward more renewable energy.
“Into that landscape, now we’re seeing these really big data centers come online,” said Byrnes.
Some utilities in Wisconsin are expected to seek state permission to build new power plants or expand existing ones to meet the data center demand. Byrnes said that will bring a need for more transmission lines, though local impacts will vary depending on where the data centers are located.
The Policy Forum’s analysis shows most existing facilities are in south central and southeastern Wisconsin. With other large-scale data centers planned for more rural areas like Beaver Dam and DeForest, he said utility companies may need to build out more infrastructure.
Another major concern raised during the data center debate is the facilities’ hefty water demands.
Opponents have complained that developers haven’t been transparent about how much water they’ll need to cool computer servers. In September, environmental advocates sued the city of Racine to force the release of projected water needs of a $3.3 billion data center campus located at the former Foxconn site in Mount Pleasant. The city released figures showing the project will need more than 8 million gallons of water per year.
To put that into context, the Policy Forum looked at historical water sales reported by the Racine Water Works, which will supply the Mount Pleasant data center project. Between 1997 and 2022, the utility saw water sales decline by 2.1 billion gallons annually. Byrnes said that taken as a whole, the demand for water from data centers is “a drop in the bucket” in a lot of cases.
As with electrical demand, Byrnes said water demand has decreased due to fewer industrial customers and increased efficiency efforts. Because cities like Racine still need to maintain the same level of infrastructure, which is more expensive due to inflation, the revenue from each gallon of water sold has to be spread further. That means potential rate increases.
Byrnes said data centers have been turning to closed-loop cooling systems, which use less water, but cities like Racine would still be selling more water, which would help cover fixed infrastructure costs.
“Potentially, it could maybe blunt some of the (water rate) increases,” Byrnes said.
With the rise in data center developments in Wisconsin, local governments and state lawmakers are working to figure out how to regulate them.
The DeForest Village Board recently took no action on a citizen petition calling for referendum votes before any data center project could be approved.
In Menomonie, the city council voted to restrict where and how data centers can be built months after the mayor halted a $1.6 billion proposal. A similar zoning ordinance is being considered in the city of Jefferson.
At the same time, Republican and Democratic state lawmakers have proposed different ways to regulate data centers. One GOP bill is aimed at ensuring data centers and not other customers would pay for any required improvements to the state’s power grid. The Democratic bill is aimed at requiring data centers to get the bulk of their power from renewable sources.
This story was originally published by WPR.
Data center boom follows decades of declining electricity and water use in Wisconsin is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
The late outsider artist Mary Nohl of Fox Point turned her home into her canvas. Known as the "Witch's House," her work has been at the center of controversy for decades. Now, her story is taking center stage with the play with music, "Maybe We'll Fly."
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One of Microsoft's top executives said he would support a new state law to regulate and set standards for data center developments across Wisconsin.
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The former president and CEO of an Oneida Nation group of small businesses has been ousted following fallout over one company’s contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Two proposed changes to the state constitution — one involving DEI, the other related to public health orders — could be heading to voters in November, after they passed out of the Wisconsin Assembly Tuesday.
The post Wisconsin Assembly advances constitutional amendments on DEI, public health orders appeared first on WPR.
Hours after Gov. Tony Evers unveiled his priorities for his final year in office, Republicans — who control the Legislature — effectively rejected one of his biggest asks.
The post Republicans trade blame with Evers for rising property taxes appeared first on WPR.
Madison officials want to stop large data centers from being built in the city — at least temporarily. A proposed ordinance would halt data center construction for up to year.
The post Should Madison hit pause on data centers? Residents to weigh in. appeared first on WPR.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a civil rights complaint against the University of Wisconsin-Madison on behalf of conservative students on campus.
The post Federal civil rights complaint against UW-Madison filed over scholarships appeared first on WPR.
For more than 80 years, high schoolers in Pulaski have been bringing local news to a community that would otherwise be a “news desert.”
The post High schoolers in a rural Wisconsin village have kept local news alive for generations appeared first on WPR.
The new Dietary Guidelines end the previous recommendation of up to two drinks per day for men and one drink for women, in favor of a much simpler message: "Consume less alcohol for better overall health."
The post Wisconsin health experts hope new federal guidelines will lead to less drinking appeared first on WPR.
The companies improperly accessed and monetized nearly 300,000 patient medical records from Epic users, according to Epic.
The post Epic, health care providers sue over alleged misuse of patient records appeared first on WPR.
The Madison Social Security Administration field office. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
Wisconsinites are holding rallies across the state Wednesday to call on Congress and the Trump administration to increase funding for operations at the Social Security Administration.
Staff reductions and office closures in the last year have created bottlenecks in service for members of the public who need help from the agency, according to Jessica LaPointe, the Wisconsin-based president of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 220. The union represents field operations employees for the Social Security Administration across the country.
“We’re struggling to meet the needs of the public,” LaPointe said, with more than 10,000 people a day becoming eligible for the federal retirement program.
Along with AFGE, the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans will be rallying outside Social Security offices in eight Wisconsin communities Wednesday.
“When they start closing offices, that hinders our senior citizens,” said Ross Winklbauer, president of WARA. “They call into Social Security if they have a question or to file a claim, and they’re sitting on the phone for hours because of short staffing and not getting their questions answered.”
WARA will take part in a rally starting at 12 noon outside the Social Security offices in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield along with AFGE. Rallies are also planned in Eau Claire, Madison, Racine, Rhinelander, Stevens Point, Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids. Winklbauer said WARA has about 100,000 members in the state, mostly union retirees, and about 1,000 active participants.
The rallies are part of a national day of action in anticipation of the possibility that the government will shut down at the end of January if Congress can’t agree on a budget for the rest of the year, LaPointe said.
Talks are underway between congressional Republicans and Democrats to enact the rest of the government’s spending plan for the current year by the upcoming deadline.
Nevertheless, LaPointe said the most recent shutdown that started Oct. 1 and ran for a record 43 days brought home to many field office workers in the Social Service Admin. the limits of their compensation, especially if they are furloughed.
In a report released Wednesday, the Strategic Organizing Center said its review of 36,000 Social Security workers’ pay rates showed that 54% — just over half — were paid less than what the MIT Living Wage Calculator has set as a living wage for the regions of the U.S. where they live. The developers of the calculator at the MIT Living Wage Institute define a living wage as “the rate that a full-time worker requires to cover the costs of their family’s basic needs where they live.”
“We don’t get paid enough to save for a rainy day,” LaPointe said. “We’re understaffed, we’re underpaid and we’re struggling to meet the needs of the public who are coming to us for their earned benefits.”
In January 2025, when President Donald Trump took office, the agency’s staff was at its lowest in 50 years, LaPointe said, and “the public was waiting too long for benefits and services.”
Since then, the agency instituted a buyout program, offering workers up to $25,000 to quit, and the staff dropped from 58,000 a year ago to about 50,000 now — “the largest single staffing cut in Social Security history,” LaPointe said.
About 2,000 field staff were lost in the last year — 10% of the field operations, she said, with the number of employees at some offices falling to single digits.
LaPointe said the agency has moved to “digital first” operations that favor online or telephone contacts instead of in-person visits. In addition, the agency has shifted to processing inquiries from the public nationally rather than at the local office she said — “where a customer out in California would be served by someone in Wisconsin, or a customer in Madison might be served by someone in New Jersey.”
In an email message, a Social Security Administration spokesperson depicted the digital shift as part of a modernization program so that “more Americans are choosing to resolve their needs online or over the phone.” The statement cited a recent audit by the Social Security Administration inspector general that found average hold times for callers had dropped to seven minutes by September 2025 from a high of 30 minutes in January.
Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano “has pledged to have the right level of staffing to operate at peak efficiency and deliver best-in-class customer service to the American people,” the spokesperson said.
The Social Security Administration “is taking action to improve workplace satisfaction, support professional development, and enhance communication across all levels of the organization,” the spokesperson added.
LaPointe, however, said there’s been “a breakdown in community based service” with the new system, and Social Security staffers are no longer the face of government in the local community.
“You now have to have an appointment to do anything with Social Security,” LaPointe said. “It’s created a bottleneck of service to where people cannot get access to apply for benefits in a timely fashion.”
Frontline workers are concerned that a move toward using artificial intelligence technology to review benefit applications will increase errors — either benefit approvals that are mistaken or unwarranted denials, she said.
“It still takes a human being to adjudicate claims — every claim, whether on the phone, online or in person,” LaPointe said.
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The William L. Guy Federal Building in Bismarck. A North Dakota-based Christian employers group filed a lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission a year ago over Biden-era regulations related to abortion and gender identity. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached an agreement this month with a Christian business group to ignore regulations that allowed employees to receive abortion-related accommodations and barred workplace discrimination based on gender identity.
Christian Employers Alliance President Margaret Iuculano, whose organization sued the EEOC over the two provisions in January 2025, said in a statement Monday that the deal was a “major win” for businesses looking to operate in accordance with their religion. The CEOs of Hobby Lobby, Regent Bank and AllBetter Health are on the board of the North Dakota-based nonprofit, which has more than 22,000 members across the country.
The regulations, issued under former President Joe Biden’s administration, were already invalidated last year by federal courts, but the deal struck by the EEOC could foreshadow a move to rescind or rewrite rules for enforcing a landmark pregnant workers law. A spokesperson for the EEOC did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
“As attacks on women’s reproductive choice continue to escalate, we are disappointed, but not surprised, that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sided with the Christian Employers Alliance in federal court, relieving many large Christian employers of their obligation to protect employees seeking an abortion,” Inimai Chettiar, president of A Better Balance, said in a statement provided to States Newsroom.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect in 2023, requires employers with 15 or more staff to provide reasonable accommodations — additional restroom breaks, a stool to sit on and time off for doctors’ appointments, for example — as long as the requests don’t place “undue hardship” on the company.
According to a Jan. 9 court order signed by a North Dakota district judge, the EEOC agreed that current and future members of the alliance will not be penalized for declining to accommodate abortion, making employees follow gender-specific dress codes or directing staff to use private spaces that don’t align with their gender identity.
Under the stipulations, the agreement will expire if the EEOC issues new regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and revises or rescinds gender identity-related guidance for complying with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which bars workplace discrimination.
“The agreement does not prevent the EEOC from investigating allegations of unlawful conduct not specifically covered by this agreement, even if they are alleged within the same charge that alleges non-enforcement conduct against CEA or its members,” the order states.
Andrea Lucas, the chair of the EEOC, has said she supports the pregnant workers law overall but disagrees that abortion should be included in the definition of “pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions” when interpreting the measure.
She has also said the agency will reconsider regulations for the law once there was a Republican quorum reestablished on the commission. The Senate approved the confirmation of Brittany Bull Panuccio, the newest commissioner, in October during the federal government shutdown.
Lucas also opposed harassment guidance issued by Biden administration officials that said employers should respect workers’ pronouns and allow staff to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
Chettiar, A Better Balance’s president, said the laws’ regulations “clearly cover workers’ ability to receive reasonable accommodations for ‘pregnancy-related conditions,’ which has long been interpreted to include abortion as well as other essential reproductive healthcare like IVF. We will continue to fight to keep the regulations for the PWFA intact and as strong as possible as the EEOC appears poised to reopen them and potentially narrow the scope of the law.”
This story was originally produced by News From The States, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Planned Parenthood and other providers got word in March that millions they anticipated in Title X funding would be withheld. The money was eventually released last year, though some providers say damage was still done. (Getty Images)
Planned Parenthood clinics in Utah resumed family planning services after the Trump administration unfroze millions in federal funds.
The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday submitted a brief to dismiss a lawsuit filed on behalf of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association after the federal government notified nine Planned Parenthood affiliates and other family planning providers in March it would withhold annual Title X funding.
Shireen Ghorbani, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, said in a statement Monday that the restored funding does not erase all of the damage caused by nine months without it. Title X funds are meant to provide affordable family planning services, such as birth control, cancer screening, and STI tests and treatment.
Ghorbani noted that the Utah affiliate has been the only Title X grant recipient in the state since 1985.
“We are thrilled that Title X funding is restored to Utah for now, allowing more Utahns to get critical family planning services,” Ghorbani said. “But we cannot ignore the fact that too many Utahns have already felt the devastating effects of the Trump administration’s unwarranted decision to withhold this funding for the last nine months. Many of the 26,000 Utahns who rely on the program were forced to pay more for their health care or go without care altogether.”
Crucially, she said, the affiliate closed two health centers, in St. George and Logan, among dozens that have closed because of the withheld Title X funding and are unlikely to reopen, according to Planned Parenthood.
Some grantees had their funding restored over the summer, Politico reported, while others remained under investigation for possibly violating the Trump administration’s new rules around so-called diversity, equity and inclusion practices until December. That’s when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services informed Planned Parenthood affiliates that they would receive their promised funds dating back to last April, with no explanation beyond unspecified “clarifications made by, and actions taken by, the grantees.”
Planned Parenthood’s Utah affiliate said that on Jan. 9 it received $2 million in Title X funding for the current grant year that had been withheld since April.
In the lawsuit over the Title X funding, plaintiffs argued that the federal government withholding 22 federal Title X grants from Planned Parenthood and other family planning organizations was illegal and unjustified.
“Our lawsuit succeeded in holding the administration accountable for its unlawful acts, and today, NFPRHA members’ grants have been restored. We are relieved all of our members now have access to their promised funds, but we know the fight for contraceptive access in this country goes on,” said Clare Coleman, president & CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, in a statement Tuesday.
She estimated that 865 family planning service sites were unable to provide Title X-funded services to an estimated 842,000 patients across nearly two dozen states.
While some states have fought to restore Title X family planning funding, Idaho last year declined its annual $1.5 million federal Title X funding, leaving patients statewide without free and low-cost contraception and reproductive health care services.
At least 20 more Planned Parenthood clinics have also closed because of last year’s budget reconciliation bill, which effectively blocked Planned Parenthood and other nonprofit reproductive health care providers from being able to participate in Medicaid, reducing low-income health care options throughout the country. Litigation remains ongoing in several cases over that Medicaid rule.
This story was originally produced by News From The States, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
A screenshot of the HealthCare.gov marketplace. Enrollment for 2026 fell in Wisconsin and nationwide as premium costs rose and enhanced subsidies ended at the end of 2025.
With premium costs sharply increased and enhanced subsidies to reduce them no longer available, the number of people signing up for health care in the federal marketplace is behind last year by more than 5%, according to a preliminary report.
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, which manages the HealthCare.gov enrollment, reported this week that Wisconsin enrollment fell by more than 17,000 below 2025’s record enrollment, which topped 310,000. As of Jan. 3, 289,213 Wisconsin residents had enrolled in plans for 2026.
HealthCare.gov is the marketplace created as part of the Affordable Care Act. It is a platform for people to purchase health insurance who aren’t covered by an employer or by some other health plan, such as Medicare or Medicaid.
Nationwide, enrollment for 2026 is 22.77 million, CMS reported — a decline of about 1.5 million from 2025.
The loss of enhanced premium tax credits, which cut the cost of health insurance purchased at HealthCare.gov, has been predicted to lead many to drop out of the marketplace. The enhanced subsidies expired at the end of 2025. Smaller subsidies remain in place, but premiums have also risen in cost, for several reasons.
According to insurance analysts, one factor in that increase was that insurance companies expected the higher prices to drive some people out of the marketplace — particularly those with fewer health concerns who are willing to take the chance that they won’t need coverage.
The remaining population is expected to have more serious health needs, making their care more expensive but also raising the cost for insuring the entire remaining pool of customers.
The U.S. House has passed a bill that would extend the enhanced subsidies another three years. Its future in the U.S. Senate isn’t clear.
Open enrollment through HealthCare.gov is still available until Thursday, Jan. 15, with coverage starting Feb. 1. For consumers who enrolled by Dec. 15, 2025, coverage began Jan. 1.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, speaks at a press conference with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Jan. 13, 2026. At left is a photo of Renee Good, 37, who was killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis.(Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus announced Tuesday they will oppose any federal funding for immigration enforcement following the deadly shooting of a woman by an immigration officer in Minneapolis.
“Our caucus will oppose all funding for immigration enforcement in any appropriations bills until meaningful reforms are enacted to end militarized policing practices,” Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis, said during a press conference.
Last week, federal immigration officer Jonathan Ross killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis, which has seen a drastic increase in immigration enforcement for weeks following allegations of fraud. After the shooting, massive protests against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement occurred in Minnesota and across the country.
The U.S. Senate is moving forward with the remaining appropriations bills for Congress to avoid a partial shutdown by a Jan. 30 deadline, and negotiations continue over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “one of the major issues that the appropriators are confronting right now.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said the appropriations bill for “Homeland is obviously the hardest one,” and that flat funding, or a continuing resolution, for the agency is the likely outcome.
Members of the Progressive Caucus are pushing for reforms including a ban on federal immigration officers wearing face coverings, the requirement of a warrant for an arrest and greater oversight of private detention facilities that hold immigrants.
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Congress also needs to pass legislation to roll back the billions allocated to the Department of Homeland Security last summer in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The massive GOP spending and tax cuts package provided a huge budget increase to DHS for immigration enforcement of roughly $175 billion.
“We have to urgently pass legislation to roll back the excessive funding for immigration enforcement” in the spending and tax cuts package, Jayapal said. “We cannot support additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security without seriously meaningful and significant reforms to the way that federal authorities conduct activity in our cities, our communities and our neighborhoods.”
The Progressive Caucus has nearly 100 Democratic House members. Those members joining the press conference included Omar, Jayapal, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Chuy Garcia of Illinois, Delia Ramirez of Illinois and Maxine Dexter of Oregon.
Garcia, who is the whip of the Progressive Caucus, said the group has informed House Leader Hakeem Jeffries of their position, but did not say if Jeffries supported slashing DHS funds.
“They are very concerned, and they also share our sentiment that we need to do something to bring reform, to bring change to stop the lawlessness, the cruelty and the abuse of power that’s taking place within ICE and (Customs and Border Patrol) and DHS,” he said of Democratic leadership.
While Democrats do not control either chamber, one tool lawmakers have used amid the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration campaign is the power of congressional oversight of federal facilities that house immigrants and are funded by Congress.
But following the shooting in Minnesota, several lawmakers were denied an oversight visit to a federal ICE facility, a move that Democrats argue violates a court order.
There will be an emergency hearing in the District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday on a new Trump administration policy that argues those facilities are funded through the spending and tax cuts package and therefore exempt from unannounced oversight visits.
Jayapal called the reasoning “a B.S. argument, and hopefully the court is going to see that.”
Jayapal added that there also needs to be “independent investigations of lawlessness and violence by immigration agents and border patrol agents, and meaningful consequences for those who commit these acts of violence, not a slap on the wrist.”
Dexter, who represents part of Portland, Oregon, where two people were shot by CBP the same week Good was shot and killed, agreed.
“One thing is absolutely clear, when any law enforcement officer fires a weapon in any community, the public must have answers to questions,” Dexter said.
Ramirez said there needs to be greater accountability beyond appropriations, and said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be impeached.
Illinois Democratic Rep. Robin Kelly is planning to introduce articles of impeachment for Noem on three counts: obstructing Congress, violating public trust and self-dealing. While such a move likely would be uphill in the House, Republicans at the moment control the chamber by a very narrow margin.
“DHS and ICE have been empowered through a lack of oversight and too much latitude to violate our rights under the pretense of security and safety,” Ramirez said.
Frost said that Congress needs to assert its control over appropriations as a check against the Trump administration.
“We cannot depend on this administration to police themselves and an end to the enforcement practices that are terrorizing our communities,” Frost said.
Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.
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