Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she will vote against DHS funding

WASHINGTON — Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in interviews on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that they will not vote for Department of Homeland Security funding after the latest fatal shooting of an American by a federal agent in Minneapolis.

“When they’re killing two constituents in my state, and they’re taking 2-year-olds out of the arms of their mom, and they are taking an elder Hmong man out of his house and putting him out there in his underwear, and then figuring out they have the wrong man,” Klobuchar told moderator Kristen Welker, “no, I am not voting for this funding.”

Schiff said he was “not giving ICE or Border Patrol another dime, given how this agency, these agencies are operating.”

Several other Democrats announced that they would vote against DHS funding until restrictions on immigration enforcement operations are put in place after a federal agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, in Minneapolis on Saturday. The bill would need a handful of Democratic votes in order to pass, and the Senate is expected to consider the measure this week. If the appropriations bill does not pass, the government could enter a partial shutdown at the end of the month.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Saturday that Democrats would not provide the necessary votes if DHS funding is included in the appropriations bill.

Schumer on Sunday called on Senate Republicans to separate the DHS funding bill from the package of the six government funding bills, saying that Democrats “will not allow the current DHS funding bill to move forward.”

“Senate Republicans must work with Democrats to advance the other five funding bills while we work to rewrite the DHS bill. This is [the] best course of action, and the American people are on our side,” Schumer wrote.

During a separate interview on “Meet the Press,” Schiff said the government would shut down if Republicans “insist” that funding related to ICE or Border Patrol “be joined with other government funding.”

“It will be a Republican decision,” he said. “They understand we’re not going to go along with this.”

A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said DHS and other government funds will come to a vote as one bill.

Klobuchar urged her Republican colleagues to “stand up” and join Democrats in voting against DHS funding.

“If they care about the Constitution, they should care about this,” she said.

Pretti’s killing was the second time federal agents have shot and killed someone in Minneapolis this month. Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer weeks ago.

Videos from witnesses appear to contradict the Trump administration’s narrative around Pretti’s killing. Administration officials painted a picture of a person who approached law enforcement with a gun and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. However, videos show Pretti going to help a person who was pushed by federal agents, and the videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a gun in the moments before he was killed.

Local officials have said that Pretti was a U.S. citizen and had a permit to carry a gun.

Klobuchar said she was “absolutely horrified” by the shooting and condemned the administration’s rhetoric.

“When I hear the officials from the Trump administration describe this video in ways that simply aren’t true, I just keep thinking, ‘Your eyes don’t lie,’” she said.

She urged ICE to leave her state, saying, “They are making us less safe, not more safe.” Asked during the interview whether she believed ICE needed to be abolished, Klobuchar said that “we’re always going to have some immigration enforcement in this country, and border control.”

“But the way that this agency has been functioning is completely against every tenet of law enforcement,” she said, before adding that she would vote against a bill that would provide more funding to ICE.

The senator added that there must be a “transparent” investigation into the killings of Pretti and Good.

“We must have transparent investigations, not only of the shooting of Alex Pretti, but of course, the shooting of Renee Good,” she said. “Again, two people with no criminal records.”

“Law enforcement is based on trust,” she added later. “And we have had a total breakdown of trust.”

The Department of Homeland Security is taking the lead in investigating Pretti’s killing, and the Justice Department and the FBI are assisting, according to two federal law enforcement sources.

Welker also asked Klobuchar whether she intended to run for governor of Minnesota. She has filed relevant paperwork, and Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, announced earlier this month that he would not seek a third term.

“I have to tell you, Kristen, that’s for later,” Klobuchar said. “I clearly filed papers. And I love my job as a senator, but I love my state more. I am focused on one thing, and that is getting ICE out of our state. There is no time for politics right now. There is only time for that.”