Day after Minneapolis shooting, Noem ordered new restriction on congressional oversight

[IcyPeas]

Last edited Sun Jan 11, 2026, 03:06 AM - Edit history (1)

Must give 7 days notice beforehand. Ridiculous. They change the rules just to suit themselves.

NEWS: A day after the Minneapolis shooting, Secretary Noem quietly signed a new policy barring congressional visits to ICE facilities without a week's advance notice. That policy change led to three MN Dems being blocked from accessing an ICE facility today. www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social) 2026-01-11T02:39:44.246Z

The Trump administration revealed the new policy late Saturday after three lawmakers were blocked from entering an ICE facility in Minnesota.

A day after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quietly ordered new restrictions on congressional visits to immigration detention facilities.

That order, put into effect Thursday by the Trump administration and revealed in court late Saturday, forces lawmakers to seek a week’s advance notice before conducting oversight visits to ICE facilities. That new policy appears to explain a conflict that unfolded Saturday, when three House Democrats from Minnesota were denied entry to a detention facility in the Whipple federal building in Minneapolis.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/10/minnesota-democrats-ice-00721211

[Attilatheblond]

1. Congress MUST assert their rights and obligations

IMPEACH her.

[pfitz59]

2. Law makers must challenge the unlawful order

DHS must not be allowed a week to 'sanitize' facilities.

[Coldwater]

3. Kristi Noem shot her puppy Cricket in 2024

she really is one evil bitch

[Historic NY]

4. Congress can order a review of the agency

Withhold or reduce funds for the entire agency or specific programs.

Place conditions or limitations (riders) on the use of funds, explicitly prohibiting money from being used for certain actions or policies Congress opposes.

[angrychair]

5. That isn't a thing

The law says they can inspect any facility without prior notice.
The "Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024" prohibits DHS from using funds to prevent Members of Congress from entering facilities for oversight purposes and states that they can inspect their facilities without notice or warning of any kind.

[mjvpi]

6. But does the law say I can't make up my own rules? Nana nana nana!

I’m sorry, but when I see pictures of these people, I get wild. My wife, who has accused me of over reacting about politics for the last twenty five years, is starting to tell me what she will do if she gets a terminal diagnosis.

[Ilikepurple]

8. U.S. Reps Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig say they were turned away from ICE facility-01/10/2026

This is after a federal judge ruled that the law in fact agrees with you. Does it matter? They will probably eventually get access, but defeats the main purpose of access without notice. It’s nice to know the law, but regrettably laws have practical or real world limitations.

“Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said the members of Congress were notified that their visit was improper and “out of compliance” with the agency’s mandate, citing concerns on safety for detainees and staff. McLaughlin said “existing court orders and policies” require members of Congress to notify ICE at least seven days in advance of congressional visits.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/10/ice-denies-rep-ilhan-omar-entry-to-minneapolis-detention-facility/88122312007/

[Ford_Prefect]

7. Another violation of Congressional prerogative, responsibility, and US law. Secretary Noem needs better legal advice IMO

I think it is well past time to inform Sect. Noem of her responsibilities under the law. It appears she believes she doesn't answer to Congress. IMO the US Senate has got something to say on the matter since it was they who approved her nomination. Of course Mr. Thune may have a few doubts on this. I feel certain I could persuade him, given a few moments in person.

[0rganism]

9. Well, better get on with it then - need to notify of visitations every day for the next three years

Of course, the article's a bit unclear as to what "seek a week’s advance notice" actually means, as "advance notice" is typically something given rather than sought, but nonetheless, best to get all those notifications done early and often, if that's going to be a thing going forward. If that notice has to be submitted individually for each facility to be examined, that's just multiplying the total notification burden, so time to get started; as the man once said, we're burning daylight. Great news for the post office though, as stamp sales from this notification requirement process could fund them through the rest of this disastrous term...

[Igel]

10. I bothered to read the document instating the "requirement."

And while looking at the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024's text it's clear to me that if an MoC wants to visit an ICE detention facilty no prior notice is permitted by statute, I can't parse the alleged exception cited by Noem. If the OBBBA did make some sort of exception, that's one thing--but I can't figure out what she's pointing to and her footnote (5) is unhelpfully cut from the snip that's posted to make it easy to understand whether there really is a valid point buried in there or not.

That's looking at the text of the 2024 act and the text of the bloated OBBBA.

Yes, I can make assumptions and declare them fact, but I try to avoid that. (With "try" doing a lot of heavy lifting there.)

Hoping to find clarification from the ever dubious Internet, there's an article on MN NPR that seems to side (reluctantly and with a bit of disapproval) with Noem's reading of the law--if only because the NPR wonks didn't cite chapter and verse to say where she's wrong ... On the other hand, NPR may just assume that no proof is given ad hominem style, or maybe the proof is hard because it's so complicated that the typical NPR commuter either wouldn't or couldn't follow it.

And at this point I bail.

[0rganism]

11. concur -- the actual legal arguments are likely convoluted in practice and obfuscated in the OBBBA

Hypothetically, if such notice must be given henceforth, then it should be given to every ICE facility for every damn day of the duration of this cursed administration. Everywhere, all at once.