Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, 68, is picking a fight with her own party— and this time it’s over an ICE shooting that Republicans have already made up their mind about.
The Alaska senator has widened her already-fraught rift with the GOP by publicly criticizing how the Trump administration is handling the federal investigation into the fatal shooting of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
She told The Hill the decision to sideline state authorities is “confusing” and unnecessary at a moment of heightened national tension.
Murkowski took to X on Thursday to urge a “thorough and objective investigation into how and why this happened,” arguing that such an outcome would require “full cooperation from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, along with the local authorities.”
Her comments directly challenged Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department has asserted control over the probe.
The Wednesday shooting, which killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three, has ignited political outrage nationwide. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, 61, said in a press conference Thursday that federal authorities had backed out of a cooperation agreement with state law enforcement, effectively shutting Minnesota investigators out of the case.
“It feels now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation,” Walz said, making it “very difficult that we will get a fair outcome.”
Noem partially pushed back on that characterization, telling reporters that local law enforcement “have not been cut out,” but added that they lack jurisdiction over the federal investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to the Daily Beast’s request to comment.
Murkowski said she found that explanation troubling. Speaking to The Hill, she said the exclusion of state authorities “just seems unusual.”
In her X post, she warned that limiting transparency would only add fuel to a country already divided over ICE enforcement.
At a time when tensions are high and ICE’s presence has expanded, Murkowski wrote, officers must have “the necessary training and resources to safely—and with empathy and respect for human life—carry out these activities.”
Her warning comes amid a recent decision to slash ICE academy training to 47 days—roughly half the previous requirement—as part of a decision to honor Trump as the 47th president.
Her stance also came just hours after she broke with Republicans on another major national security issue. On Thursday, Murkowski was one of five GOP senators who voted with Democrats to approve a resolution aimed at blocking President Donald Trump from deploying U.S. forces in Venezuela without prior congressional authorization. The resolution failed 47–42, but the defections infuriated Trump.
The president lashed out on Truth Social, accusing the dissenting Republicans of trying to undermine American power. “Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” Trump wrote, adding that they should “never be elected to office again.”
While Murkowski’s comments drew predictable backlash from the right, they were welcomed across the aisle. Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, 67, publicly thanked Murkowski for speaking out, replying on X that “Minnesota authorities have to be involved in the investigation.”
Thank you, Lisa. Minnesota authorities have to be involved in the investigation.
— Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) January 9, 2026
Walz echoed that sentiment in a press conference Thursday, warning that public confidence in the outcome was already being undermined by statements from top federal officials. “People in positions of power have already passed judgment—from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem,” he said, arguing that cooperation was the only path forward.
While Vice President JD Vance has seemingly made up his mind about the shooting, telling reporters the incident was an “attack on federal law enforcement,” further shifting blame onto Good, calling it “a tragedy of her own making.”
For now, the investigation remains ongoing, with federal officials insisting they are acting within their authority.
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