A House Democratic caucus call on Sunday lit up with calls to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and travel to Minnesota in support of anti-ICE protesters after the shooting of Alex Pretti, sources told Axios.
Why it matters: A series of violent incidents involving ICE and Border Patrol agents has infuriated Democrats and accelerated the mainstreaming of what were once radical proposals.
- Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), a swing-district centrist, told colleagues that if Noem isn't ousted or resigns, "we will have no other option but to begin impeachment," several sources on the call told Axios.
- House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who was once reticent about impeachment, similarly called for Noem to be impeached on the call.
Driving the news: The Sunday morning caucus call was scheduled abruptly after federal immigration officers shot and killed Pretti, outraging Democratic lawmakers.
- The call was billed as a discussion of "the Trump administration's lawless actions in Minnesota," with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison as "special guests," according to invites obtained by Axios.
- Walz praised House Democrats who had traveled to Minnesota and urged others to follow, calling the ICE deployment an "illegal occupation," sources said.
- Ellison touted the restraining order he secured forcing DHS to preserve evidence in the Pretti shooting and said there may be a way to sue the federal government over the matter, telling members he will be before a federal judge to argue the case on Monday.
The intrigue: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged members not to leak details of what was said, according to one source, telling colleagues he wanted the conversation to remain within the caucus.
- The House Democratic leader told his members that there are four battles going on around ICE, per multiple sources: legislative, appropriations, legal and moral.
- House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) noted to members that if their demands for a bill funding DHS to be changed in the Senate are met, it would force the House to vote on the bill again.
Zoom out: The calls for Noem's impeachment are nothing new — support for the move has been building steadily among House Democrats in the weeks since the Renee Good shooting.
- Articles of impeachment against Noem introduced by Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) have been co-sponsored by 115 House Democrats as of Sunday, Kelly's office told Axios, making it by far the most credible impeachment push of President Trump's second term.
- Rep. Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.), one of Democrats' most vulnerable swing-district members and one of the seven centrist Democrats who voted for DHS funding last week, announced her support for impeaching Noem on Sunday.
- Democrats have also increasingly been making the trek to Minnesota, with even a congressional candidate in Manhattan saying he plans to travel there in support of the protests.
