Welcome to our weekly DC Wrap, where we write about Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. Sign up here to receive the newsletter directly.
Quotes of the week
The death of Alex Pretti was a preventable tragedy that stemmed from Minnesota undermining federal law. As President Trump said, the matter is being investigated and the facts will come out. Now, Democrats are using this as an excuse to cover up fraud and shut down the government again.
– U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, on the fatal shooting of Minnesotan Alex Pretti by the U.S. Border Patrol.
At the direction of Donald Trump, ICE is functioning as a masked military force, sowing chaos, violence, and disorder wherever they deploy. Everyone involved in today’s heinous killing, and the rest of the crimes being committed by ICE, must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
– U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, condemning Immigration and Customs Enforcement following Pretti’s killing.
This week’s news
— U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says he will “oppose any effort to defund DHS” as the Senate appears poised to deadlock on a package funding the department.
>> WisPolitics is now on the State Affairs network. Get custom keyword notifications, bill tracking and all WisPolitics content. Get the app or access via desktop.
In an X post yesterday morning, Johnson, R-Oshkosh, blamed Democrats in Minnesota for “inciting violence” and indicated he would oppose Senate Democrats’ demands to renegotiate funding for the Department of Homeland Security with a partial government shutdown looming.
Speaking on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America” yesterday, Johnson said there was a “real possibility” of a government shutdown and that Senate leadership should focus on passing two Johnson-backed bills that would automatically fund government agencies at prior-year levels in the event of a shutdown and guarantee pay for essential personnel.
“If you can pass appropriations, that’s fine, but I don’t think that will be possible,” Johnson said.
The killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last week has galvanized Senate Dems in opposition to a House-passed funding package.
Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who worked in the Minneapolis VA Medical Center’s intensive care unit, was shot to death by two federal agents as other officers wrestled Pretti to the ground.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, has said that she will not support funding for DHS “without clear accountability and stronger controls over the agency.”
She raised concerns about immigration agents’ lack of body cameras or identifying markers like badges, including their use of masks.
Polling from the Dem-aligned Searchlight Institute shows broad public support for reining in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with a majority of polled voters indicating they oppose ICE detaining U.S. citizens, entering people’s homes without warrants, and failing to wear clearly identifying uniforms.
The more than $1.2 trillion package pending in the Senate would also fund the departments of Defense, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development and Transportation.
Any change in the Senate to DHS funding would have to be approved by the House, which is out on recess and has not announced plans to return before the shutdown deadline at midnight Saturday.
Baldwin has also said she would support impeaching DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, citing the killing of Pretti and fellow Minneapolis resident Renee Good by immigration agents as well as a subsequent effort to paint both as domestic terrorists.
“She has overseen an agency that has been responsible for two out of the three homicides in the city this year. She has lied to the American public about what we’ve seen with our very own eyes,” Baldwin said. “If those are not things that should be subject to impeachment, I don’t know what are.”
Some GOP lawmakers have also begun to call for Noem’s removal. U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, have both said Noem should be fired.
Johnson demurred on the question of whether Noem should be removed.
“That’ll be a call by President Trump and I have confidence that he’ll make the right decision,” Johnson said.
— Also pending in the House-passed appropriations package: around $96 million in federal spending earmarked for Wisconsin counties, cities and nonprofits.
Earmarks, also known as congressionally directed spending or community project funding, are federal spending directed by lawmakers to specific projects or institutions back home.
The package includes the majority of funds earmarked by Wisconsin’s members of Congress.
Some $68 million in earmarked funds have already passed into law under previous funding packages passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by the president.
Among those funds are $3 million to support comprehensive health care services at Family Health Center of Marshfield, requested by Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien; and $1 million for lead service line replacement in Mineral Point, requested by Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont.
Some $4 million requested by Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, would go to runway upgrades at Green Bay’s Austin Straubel Airport, pending approval of the last funding package, as would $2 million for priority needs housing in Milwaukee, requested by Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, is by far the most prolific requestor of earmarks among Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, with some $110 million in pending and approved earmarks this year.
That includes a shared request with Wied for $5 million to go to a new fire station in Green Bay and a combined $22 million funding request for several Army Corps of Engineers projects shared with several Democratic senators.
Three representatives – Bryan Steil, of Janesville, Glenn Grothman, of Glenbeulah, Tom Tiffany of Minocqua – and Sen. Ron Johnson did not request earmarks in this year’s appropriations bills.
Tiffany and Johnson both released statements criticizing the practice of earmarking in response to WisPolitics queries, with Tiffany calling them a “tool for pet-project spending and fiscal irresponsibility” and noting he’d voted against the practice.
A spokesperson from Johnson’s office referred WisPolitics to a resolution he and two other GOP senators authored last year condemning the practice.
— U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany this week told reporters he hadn’t seen video of the shooting in Minneapolis over the weekend and is reserving judgment until there’s a full investigation.
Tifffany, R-Minocqua, at a Monday press conference deflected when asked about comments by Trump administration officials claiming Alex Pretti had approached federal officers with a pistol despite video evidence showing otherwise.
Tiffany instead criticized Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for not doing more to cooperate with federal immigration officials. And he charged his potential Dem opponents with wanting to do away with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison and state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, in the past week have called for disbanding the agency.
“He has people who are illegally in his state who have committed heinous crimes and yet he will not let federal agents be able to do their job in Minnesota and in Minneapolis,” Tiffany said of Walz.
Stuckey, the Dem Party spokesperson, said Tiffany’s “willful ignorance about the evidence of the ICE murder of Alex Pretti is shocking and disturbing. To be deaf, dumb and blind at a moment like this is unacceptable of an elected official.”
Following the shooting, some Trump administration officials have criticized Pretti, who has a concealed carry license, for having a weapon on him before he was shot. FBI Director Kash Patel said Pretti “broke the law” in carrying the gun to a protest, drawing backlash from Second Amendment groups including the National Rifle Association.
Tiffany said if state law allows it, you should be able to concealed carry.
“But you should also think about what you’re going to go into a situation like that,” he said. “Be sure to think about the ramifications of that.”
Posts of the week
ICYMI
Wisconsin Public Radio: Wisconsin GOP lawmaker blames Minnesota’s Walz for shooting. Democrats denounce killing.
WISN 12: Wisconsin congressman urges lawmakers ‘tone down the rhetoric’ after Minnesota shooting
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mark Pocan says court should fast-track decision on congressional maps
Wisconsin State Journal: Sen. Tammy Baldwin won’t vote for DHS funding, says Kristi Noem ‘has to go’
Brownfield Ag News: Van Orden says new council needed to advance year-round E15
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Donald Trump endorses Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin governor race
