Demands for independent investigations. Scheduled oversight hearings. Overtures for proposed concessions to avert a government shutdown.
In the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal agent in Minneapolis, Republicans in Congress have starkly shifted their tone on the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, offering some of the strongest and most pointed criticism of the administration since the start of President Trump’s second term and conceding that something must change.
Mr. Pretti’s killing over the weekend had drawn notable pushback from a small but significant group of G.O.P. lawmakers even before Mr. Trump switched rhetorical gears, distancing himself from his administration’s smears of Mr. Pretti and installing a new commander to oversee his deportation push in Minnesota.
But for a much broader group of Republicans who have been reluctant to challenge Mr. Trump or even gently criticize him, the president’s messaging pivot appeared to have provided license to air grave concerns about what happened in Minneapolis and the backlash it had generated among much of the American public.
The shift could be temporary and may be more of a matter of style over substance. It was not clear whether it would yield any immediate action by Republicans, who have largely ceded their power to Mr. Trump and who still solidly back his immigration policy. They have balked at Democrats’ demands to drop funding for the Department of Homeland Security bill from a spending package needed to avert a government shutdown on Friday.
Even so, Republicans have toned down the hyperpartisan language typical in the run-up to a shutdown. Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, signaled openness on Tuesday to negotiating with Democrats on policy changes that might draw their votes for the homeland security spending measure, as he called for a full and impartial investigation into Mr. Pretti’s killing, which he described as “an inflection point.”
It all reflected a worry among congressional Republicans, shared by the president, that voters are souring on the immigration crackdown as they see a federal agency acting far beyond the limits of a police force — and that the party may pay a political price for it in November.
So after months of standing on the sidelines as Democrats and municipal and state leaders railed against the tactics of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other border agencies, Republicans have moved quickly this week to put the agency and Mr. Trump’s policy under scrutiny.
On Tuesday, Representative Andrew Garbarino, the New York Republican who leads the House Homeland Security Committee, announced that top administration immigration officials would testify before the panel on Feb. 10 after Mr. Garbarino called for their appearance immediately after Mr. Pretti’s killing on Saturday.
“Transparency and communication are needed to turn the temperature down,” Mr. Garbarino said in setting the date for the hearing.
Senator Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who heads his chamber’s homeland security panel, announced a similar session on Feb. 12.
In another sign of Republican unease with the immigration push, Representative Mark Amodei of Nevada, who leads the spending panel responsible for the Homeland Security Department’s funding, criticized Secretary Kristi Noem’s response to the shootings in an interview with The Nevada Independent. He said a “pivot” in immigration enforcement tactics was necessary “because regardless of what side of immigration enforcement you’re on, we are not in a good place right now.”
Senator Thom Tillis, the North Carolina Republican who has announced his retirement, went further on Tuesday, becoming the first in his party to call for Ms. Noem’s firing. “What she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying,” he said at the Capitol, adding, “She needs to go.”
In the House, Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Tom Suozzi, Democrat of New York, leaders of the Problem Solvers Caucus, wrote to Mr. Trump asking for a meeting to discuss a broad immigration overhaul, because his border successes “are now being overshadowed by the interior enforcement that has given rise to a growing rejection by the public.”
Those actions followed calls by several Senate Republicans — some of whom have never previously questioned the administration’s actions — for an independent investigation into the killings in Minneapolis.
Top Republicans are also taking a different approach to the intensifying clash with Senate Democrats over funding for the Department of Homeland Security as a partial government shutdown looms at the end of the week. Democrats are demanding tough new limits on federal immigration agents or they will oppose homeland security funding that is part of a six-bill spending package set for an initial vote on Thursday.
Rather than immediately accusing Democrats of acting irresponsibly and putting government services at risk, Republican leaders have taken a softer approach and have said they hope a resolution can be reached in talks between Democrats and the White House. It is a stark contrast from the last shutdown, when Republicans refused to even enter into negotiations on Democrats’ key demand, extending health care subsidies, until they agreed to end the shutdown.
“I think the question is, ‘What is it the Democrats want?’” Mr. Thune said as the Senate returned on Tuesday. “And if they can define that, then we should figure out if there’s a way to actually achieve it, or come to some agreement, if you will, to negotiate whatever their demands are.”
He added, “Obviously this is an inflection point, an opportunity to evaluate and to really assess the policies and the procedures” of the Trump administration in Minnesota.
Not all Republicans are dialing it down. In a statement on Tuesday posted on X, the members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus urged Mr. Trump to keep the immigration pressure on, illustrating how difficult it could be to secure House approval of any changes won by Democrats.
“We support @POTUS doing whatever is necessary to keep American streets safe from rapists, murderers, and pedophiles here illegally,” the Freedom Caucus statement said. “If Democrat-run Sanctuary Cities continue enabling Communist agitators assaulting ICE and federal law enforcement, then it is time to invoke the Insurrection Act to maintain law and order.”
Some Senate Republicans took a similar stand.
“Four months ago, Democrats shut down the government in an attempt to give illegal aliens free health care,” Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, wrote on X. “Now, they want to shut down the government to stop illegal aliens from being deported. Do Democrats work for the American people or illegal aliens?”
But Mr. Thune’s comments suggested that Senate leaders were still hopeful for a resolution that could avoid a shutdown. Whether the more measured approach would result in real action that could change the administration’s tactics or avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the week remained an open question.
While Senate Republicans said Democrats should cut a deal with Mr. Trump for whatever policy changes they wanted to see in exchange for voting for the spending package, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, threw cold water on that idea.
“The fix should come from Congress,” Mr. Schumer said on Tuesday as he again called for Mr. Thune to break off the homeland security funding measure and allow the Senate to approve funding for the rest of the government while lawmakers negotiated new restrictions on immigration enforcement. “The public can’t trust the administration to do the right thing on its own. The Republicans and Democrats must work together to make that happen.”
Mr. Schumer also made it clear that he was not impressed with a tonal shift by Republicans and the president and that he wanted immediate results.
“What ICE is doing is state-sanctioned thuggery and it must be stopped,” he said. “ICE must leave Minnesota today. Not tomorrow, not next week, but today.”
Catie Edmondson, Megan Mineiro and Michael Gold contributed reporting.
Carl Hulse is the chief Washington correspondent for The Times, primarily writing about Congress and national political races and issues. He has nearly four decades of experience reporting in the nation’s capital.
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