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Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 16, 2026· Updated

Kash Patel Tells the Senate Judiciary Committee the FBI Dropped Its Automatic Bar on Applicants With Bestiality Histories Because "We Did Not Want to Punish Victims" — John Kennedy Asks "What Planet Did You Parachute In From?," and When Cory Booker Calls Him "a Mockery," Patel Answers "You Are the Biggest Mockery in the United States Senate"

On September 15, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for its annual oversight hearing, seven weeks before the midterm elections. Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) opened by crediting Patel with managing "many challenges, both internal and external." Ranking member Dick Durbin (D-IL) called him "the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation's history," accusing him of turning the bureau toward the president's grievances, including false claims about the 2020 election, and of having "gutted" hiring standards. The hiring standards dominated much of the hearing. CBS News had reported that the FBI no longer automatically disqualifies applicants who have engaged in bestiality or sex solicitation. Patel defended the change as protecting trafficking and abuse victims: "We did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked." Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) asked why Patel had not asked the official who recommended it "what planet did you parachute in from?" Senators also pressed Patel over The Atlantic's reporting on his drinking, which he denies and over which he has sued the magazine; his use of a government jet to attend the Winter Olympics in Italy; the removal of agents who worked on Iran; and the midterms. Asked by Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) to pledge not to interfere with the November election, Patel said he would "not participate in your charade of lies." After Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) called him an "incompetent lackey," the two traded insults, with Patel telling Booker "You are the biggest mockery in the United States Senate, and you're sitting next to Schiff."

“You damn well better preserve records, because we're going to be investigating all these hundreds of wrongful terminations, and we're going to hold you accountable. … I fully expect that he will lie to the Congress and hope that he doesn't get caught – but we will be investigating. … None of it passes the smell test.”
Adam Schiff (D-CA) · Sep 16, 2026

Reports of an ICE Surge in Indianapolis Draw a Congressional Inquiry From André Carson and a Warning From Jim Banks That "We Will Not Let Indianapolis Become Minneapolis" — While the Mayor Says Nobody Told the City Anything

In the first days of September 2026, immigrant-aid groups in Indianapolis and Bloomington reported a sharp increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity — masked agents, unmarked vehicles, arrests off traffic stops, and a foot pursuit that crossed multiple lanes of traffic. ICE would not confirm an operation or provide details. On Sept. 3, Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and acting ICE Director David Venturella demanding an accounting. Carson's objection was to the method as much as the scale: agents whose identity, authority and mission the public cannot verify, he wrote, produce fear rather than safety. Indiana's Republicans answered in the opposite direction. Sen. Jim Banks said anyone obstructing ICE in Indiana should be arrested and prosecuted, and invoked Minneapolis — where Operation Metro Surge and the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis by ICE officer Christian Castro have produced eight months of litigation — as the outcome he intends to avoid. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said he "proudly" supported the officers working in the state. City government's position was that it had no position, because it had no information. Mayor Joe Hogsett's office and City-County Council President Maggie Lewis both said no federal immigration authority had communicated with any city or county agency about current or planned operations in Marion County; the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff's Office each said they were not involved. Both Hogsett and Lewis paired that with a statement of what kind of city Indianapolis intends to be.

“At this time, we have no information indicating that federal immigration authorities have formally changed their approach or are specifically targeting Indianapolis.”
Maggie Lewis (D-IN) · Sep 3, 2026

Aug 24, 2026· Updated

ICE Immigration Crackdown in Minnesota

Federal immigration enforcement operation "Metro Surge" in Minneapolis-St. Paul has sparked protests, economic boycotts, and political backlash after two fatal shootings by federal agents. The crackdown has led to hundreds of businesses closing in solidarity, state legislators nationwide proposing limits on ICE cooperation, and a growing constitutional clash between state and federal authorities. In August 2026 the operation produced a second scandal. Court filings in the Minneapolis conspiracy prosecution — reported by the Minnesota Reformer on August 13 and detailed further in documents covered by NPR on August 25 — showed that DHS ran a parallel covert surveillance campaign, codenamed in part "Operation Puppet Master," against labor unions, environmental groups, churches and community organizations that had protested the crackdown. Undercover agents attended a meeting at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and a public library gathering, photographed license plates, built dossiers on attendees including their families and jobs, and subpoenaed the financial records of unions including the Communications Workers of America and SEIU. None of the organizations was accused of criminal wrongdoing. On August 24, House Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) sent records demands to Attorney General Todd Blanche and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The Justice Department defended the operation in a court filing, calling undercover membership in the groups it was investigating "a standard law enforcement practice."

“DHS crossed the line of routine law enforcement into targeting political dissent — a violation that is unacceptable to American democracy.”
Robert Garcia (D-CA) · Aug 24, 2026

San Diego County Votes 3-2 to Throw ICE and Border Patrol Off Its Firing Ranges — the Elected Sheriff Bans ICE but Keeps CBP, and the Acting ICE Director Calls It "Political Obstruction"

On August 18, 2026, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to terminate the agreements that let U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection train at the San Diego Regional Firearms Training Center on Alta Road in Otay Mesa — a county-owned facility a few miles from the Mexican border — and at a Navy facility the county leases. The proposal came from Supervisors Paloma Aguirre and Terra Lawson-Remer, who framed it as a refusal to let county property underwrite federal immigration raids. Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe provided the third vote; Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond voted no, arguing that badly behaved agents are an argument for more training, not less. Separately and on the same day, Sheriff Kelly Martinez — an independently elected officer who controls the range's day-to-day operations — announced she was barring ICE from sheriff's training sites and firearms qualifications, but would continue to allow CBP access, citing the harm to cross-border communities if the roughly 1,700 CBP officers who qualify there had to go elsewhere. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott called the board's vote "unprecedented." On August 20, Acting ICE Director David Venturella issued a statement saying the agency "will not allow political obstruction" to keep its officers from training.

“ICE will not allow political obstruction to prevent our officers and agents from receiving the training they need to safely and effectively enforce the laws of the United States and carry out President Trump's mandate to restore integrity to our immigration system.”
David Venturella (R) · Aug 20, 2026

Oklahoma Becomes the Third Republican-Led State to Move Against the Country’s Largest Muslim Civil Rights Group — Stitt Orders an "Intelligence-Based Assessment" of CAIR and Asks Washington to Designate It a Terrorist Organization

On August 12, 2026, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed an executive order directing the state Departments of Public Safety and Homeland Security to conduct an "intelligence-based assessment" of whether the Muslim Brotherhood, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or people acting in their name pose a terrorist or public-safety threat in Oklahoma. If investigators find evidence of support for those organizations, the order directs state law enforcement to recommend that the federal government designate them as foreign terrorist organizations. Oklahoma is the third Republican-led state to act. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR "foreign terrorist organizations" and "transnational criminal organizations" by proclamation on November 18, 2025, a designation that also bars them from acquiring land in Texas; CAIR chapters sued, arguing the proclamation chilled protected speech. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a similar executive order on December 8, 2025. On March 4, 2026, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee temporarily enjoined the Florida order on First Amendment grounds, finding it operated as a prior restraint by threatening private parties with loss of government benefits for associating with CAIR. Florida's legislature responded in March 2026 with HB 1471, empowering the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to label organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist groups, and DeSantis used that law against CAIR-Florida in July 2026. The state actions follow a November 2025 executive order from President Trump aimed at designating certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as foreign terrorist organizations. The U.S. State Department has never designated the Muslim Brotherhood or CAIR as terrorist organizations. Oklahoma State Senate Democratic Leader Julia Kirt condemned Stitt's order, noting it was issued without evidence and warning it raises the risk of hate crimes.

“This kind of fear mongering and scapegoating divides our communities and state, and doesn’t solve any real problems Oklahomans are facing. I’m deeply concerned this further increases the likelihood of hate crimes against our neighbors, which is already on the rise in this country.”
Julia Kirt (D-OK) · Aug 13, 2026

Jan 29, 2026· Updated

ICE Shooting Death of Renee Good in Minneapolis

Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, mother of three, writer and poet, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis after dropping her 6-year-old son at school. An independent autopsy found she was shot three times including once in the head. Her death sparked national protests, "Renee Good Day" proclamation by Governor Walz, and federal investigations that have controversially focused more on her partner than on the agent who killed her.

“ICE agents shot and killed a mother of three.”
Suzan DelBene (D-WA) · Jan 29, 2026