After ICE killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) released two statements: one calling for the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and the other opposing additional government funding for ICE. Democrats across the congressional board support these measures. The House resolution calling for Noem’s impeachment has 140 cosponsors and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s announced that Democrats would oppose any funding package that increases DHS funding.
Senator Rosen joins Jen to discuss why Democrats are championing these two causes. Additionally, the two address the hypocrisy of Republicans—long time defenders of the 2nd Amendment—justifying Pretti’s murder because he was legally armed at the protest. Sen. Rosen ends the interview by urging Contrarians to call your state and local elected officials, because it is working.
Jacky Rosen is a U.S. Senator from Nevada. She serves on the Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees and has been a leading advocate for veterans, renewable energy, and affordable health care.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of the Contrarian. We’re delighted to have back with us Senator Jacky Rosen from Nevada. Welcome, Senator.
Senator Jacky Rosen
Thank you for having me on this, snowy, stormy… maybe the storm’s over, but this snowy, morning.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely, and we are adrift, perhaps as a country as well. You put out some extraordinary statements saying that although you were a deep believer that the government should remain open, that you would not vote for the DHS funding bill, and also calling for the removal of, Secretary Noem. Tell us what your process was, and what you’ve been hearing from your constituents.
Senator Jacky Rosen
Well, I can tell you that Donald Trump and his cabinet, one of the most unqualified and irresponsible cabinets that I can, I think in anybody’s lifetime, and certainly in my lifetime, has to be reined in. And Kristi Noem, of course, is the top of the list. She is absolutely disregarding the rule of law, our Bill of Rights, and our Constitution. She sends out a memo suspending our People’s Fourth Amendment rights of illegal search and seizure that ICE can just go bang down any door of any home, of any business, without a warrant, and not an administrative warrant, but they need judicial warrants, they can just go in without anything and do whatever the hell they want. It is wrong. They go en masse, they go in unmarked, no body cams, no training. It is absolutely… horrific, and I don’t care whether you’re left, right, or center. Everyone should demand that our law enforcement agencies, whether they’re state, local, or federal, are held accountable, that they are trained properly, and that we, know exactly what they’re doing. And they must, above all, follow the rule of law. They are not exempt.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Now, the DHS funding bill, in the House was wrapped up with, other spending measures. Do you think that your colleagues, and maybe even some Republicans, are prepared to separate out the DHS bill so that can be considered and allow the rest of the government to be funded? Where do you think that stands this week?
Senator Jacky Rosen
Well, we’ve already passed multiple funding bills, and they sent over the last 6, with Homeland, where ICE lives, being part of that. I can tell you this, that as much as we want to fund our government, nobody wants to fund an out-of-control agency that’s acting without impunity, that is terrorizing our communities with chaos. And, just acting in every way against the rule of law. So it is our hope, it is our demand, that they separate Homeland out of the rest of the bills. We’ve done the hard work. We want to fund our government till September 30th. We’ve already passed numerous, numerous bills that will fund the government. If we get those other five and leave Homeland out, we can have the discussions about our demands, and they are simple. Increase training for ICE and CBP, ban masked agents, require identification, require accountability, require body cameras to be worn by officers. This protects everyone, and overall, overall. require our agencies to support and abide by the Bill of Rights and our Constitution. We have a First Amendment right, a Second Amendment right, Fourth Amendment rights. We have their laws and all of this, they are not suggestions. They’re not suggestions, they’re the backbone of our democracy, and I don’t care what side you fall on, we should demand our agencies uphold the rule of law.
Jen Rubin
Nevada believes in Second Amendment rights. Many of your Republicans have made careers advocating for the Second Amendment, and yet you hear these officials say that because Alex Pretty was carrying a lawful, licensed gun that somehow made him a legitimate target. Do you suspect that some of your Republican colleagues may be disturbed by this abject hypocrisy, the notion that you cannot bring a weapon to a protest? That might be news to Kyle Rittenhouse, who was lauded by your Republican colleagues and made a hero.
Senator Jacky Rosen
This is a perfect case of, I can do what I want, and you should do what I want. That’s not how the laws work. And you’ve already seen some Republicans, I believe, Senator McCormick, Senator Cassidy, and others have come out asking for investigations. We’ll leave that to the Republicans to answer. But honestly, the hypocrisy here that someone was exercising their Second Amendment rights that now they’re just a subject, a target. You show up, Kristi Noem says, you show up with a gun, we’re gonna kill you. Well, I’m glad, I hope the MAGA folks realize this, too, because that means anybody.
And so, again, this is wrong. We do have a Second Amendment right. He was law-abiding by the rules of Minnesota. Excuse me, I believe, with concealed carry or whatever those permits are. I’m not a resident of Minnesota, so you’ll have to correct me if I’m wrong there, but I do believe that he was… had a gun according to the correct rules in place in Minnesota, and it was his Second Amendment right. And so this is the utmost hypocrisy. Republicans, like I said, these are the kinds of things that Democrats, Independents, and Republicans need to come together on. However you may feel about guns, in particular, are one thing, but upholding our Second Amendment and rules that we have on the books right now, that is what shouldn’t be suspended.
Jen Rubin
Some Republicans are beginning to talk about an independent investigation. Do you have confidence that there is any agency, any part of this administration that could carry out a legitimate independent investigation, or does it really need to be handled by the states, and the feds have to cooperate and turn over evidence to the states and localities?
Senator Jacky Rosen
Yeah, well, I can tell you, it’s a great question, and I am, thankful that my Republican colleagues are finally saying in public what they say in private, what they know is right, that there should be independent investigations, we should get to the bottom of these things. We’ve never had this issue where the feds just come in and suspend every ability for the state to do their investigation, to cooperate. We always have a collaboration between states’ rights and federal rights. This, again, is, unheard of.
That I can tell you I’ve been hearing from Senators Klobuchar and Senator Smith have been telling us that their local agencies have been totally cut out of the process. This is not right. I do not have confidence in the Trump administration to do an independent investigation. But at the same time, we also need our states to be able to collaborate. This is how this government works. It’s a collaboration between states’ rights, federal rights, and how do we do that? And we cannot have one agency deciding that they just run the damn place. They don’t run the damn place. The Constitution runs the place, our relationships run the place, and they are not above the law, and this is why we are not going to vote to fund ICE.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. I’m curious, from your perspective, Do senators care when they hear from their constituents? Does it matter when red state residents say, you know, I don’t like what’s going on, you really need to do something? Should people be calling their senators this week? Does it work?
Senator Jacky Rosen
So, I want to tell everyone to call your local, your state and your federal electives, because what I can tell you, I’ve been out and about a home this week, Northern Nevada, southern Nevada. I know so many people in local, state, federal law enforcement, our veterans, our military, National Guard, and it is important that we hear these stories. And that you tell them how scared you are. I’ve talked to parents who say, I’m not sending my kids to school at all. I have friends who are teachers. I don’t want to go to school. I’m worried about the kids. What’s going to happen? They don’t want to come. How am I going to protect them in the classroom when ICE is parked outside of the gate, or they might be coming into the school? They’re terrorizing everyone.
The emotional scars on, people who are going to… kids and people who work in schools, in our places of worship, in our hospitals, in our… just in our streets, in our neighbors. We’ve never seen anything like this. It is wrong, and just make your voice heard. Just because we don’t have the majority for Democrats doesn’t mean we should be silent, and for each and every one of you out there that’s listening. People know what’s right and what’s good, and this isn’t that. And the more you let people know that these are your friends, these are your neighbors, these are your communities, we want Violent criminals, gang members, drug traffickers, sex traffickers, yes, we want them out of our country, or we want them brought to justice, but this is not that. And no American, no American loves this country, should want our neighbors, our friends, our communities terrorized. terrorized. And so, I urge everyone to use their voice. It’s the most powerful thing we have.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. It sounds like you are hearing what we are hearing from local and state law enforcement, that they’re embarrassed, they’re appalled by the tactics that ICE and the Customs and Border Patrol, that this is not professional. It’s not legal, it’s dangerous, they’re endangering themselves and others. We heard a sheriff from Maine, from your colleague, Senator Collins State, who was appalled when an African-American correction officer was arrested, and he said this is Bush League stuff. How important is it for local state law enforcement, for former law enforcement people to speak up and speak to the lack of professionalism, the lack of, really proper police procedures, proper law enforcement procedures?
Senator Jacky Rosen
Yeah, your point is well taken, and I know I’ve seen some statements from the governor’s organizations and from national sheriff’s organizations. You’re seeing people come out. I do talk to our local, local police, our state police, particularly our National Guard as well, and They work really hard on community policing. really hard to come in the neighborhoods, coffee on the corner, coffee with the cup, sending up after-school programs for kids, nights out in the neighborhoods. This is how they make our communities safe, helping to support those wraparound services for drug treatment, domestic violence. Homelessness and the like.
And so, when people see this, they take it out on everyone else who works so hard to build those relationships, and they are appalled. Everyone said, this is not how we’re trained. You know what? Every person who I speak to, whether it’s National Guard, veteran, military… military is a little different if you’re deployed overseas, but just in general, in law enforcement, is the first rule when you go into anything. Is de-escalation. And they explain how you walk in, and you don’t come in brandishing your guns. I mean, maybe it’s a SWAT situation. Let’s just take some of those things out. But you don’t go in like that. You go in, hey, what’s wrong?
Like, they have, whatever the situation demands, they try to take down the temperature so people don’t lose their lives. And the officers don’t lose their lives, and the people that they’re serving, they want to calm down what’s going on, and that’s the first rule. We’re not seeing that. They’re escalate, escalate, escalate! Absolutely. Escalita, and I don’t want to repeat what we know when Renee Goode was gunned down, what the officer said. After that, and what we’ve heard, comments like, boo-hoo, that this stuff is happening. This is not professional behavior in any way, shape, or form, and it’s indefensible as far as I’m concerned.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely, and the notion that we have, the basic basically violating fundamental law enforcement principles, shooting at moving vehicles, shooting at people who are not armed. That seems to be something that, if they can’t do, Congress should be stepping in to do real oversight. Do you have confidence that your Republican colleagues are gonna bring these people up to the Hill, are gonna have real oversight, are gonna start making, their voices heard. That is the job, as you know very well, more than anyone, of the first branch of government, is to exercise some oversight. Is there any appetite now that they will finally do their jobs?
Senator Jacky Rosen
Well, I can’t speak for the House of Representatives, but what I can tell you is in the Senate, I desperately wish that those senators, my Republican colleagues, will step up and say what they say to us, many of them in private, about how awful this is, how they can’t support it. They need to stop the paralysis that they themselves are feeling. They need to understand, take back, and claim who we are as United States Senators, United States Congress, Article 1 branch, and stand up again for the Constitution. And quit being so damn afraid of Donald Trump and his tyranny. Donald Trump is all about bullying us, creating tyranny, creating authoritarian government, forcing people to be scared and not coming out of the house.
Look, it’s way below zero in Minnesota. Way below zero. And I think they had tens of thousands of people out on the weekend protesting in below zero weather. Minnesotan’s no stranger to bad weather, but to have tens of thousands coming out over and over again to peacefully protest. I want my Republican colleagues to have the same backbone, and the same stamina, and the same love for their communities and the Constitution that the people of Minnesota have, and Illinois, and Oregon, and every place where the peaceful protests are going on. I want the 53 Republican colleagues that I work with to be as strong and committed To our democracy, as we see from communities around this country.
Jen Rubin
Well, folks, as you know, Jacky Rosen is no bomb-thrower. She is a very moderate, very reasonable, very measured person, and for her to reach this point, and to come out for the impeachment of Kristi Noem, for the defunding of DHS without proper restrictions. tells you where we have come. So thank you, Senator, for your leadership. Thank you for speaking out so strongly. We wish you luck in, first of all, getting back to Washington, D.C. We know the airports have been, closed.
And, more importantly, in, reaching those Republican colleagues, to speak up, to squeak up, to find their spines, and to join, people like you and your Democratic colleagues.
Senator Jacky Rosen
This is a moment. This is a moment. History will judge. There are these moments, this is a moment, and we all need to stand up to protect and save our democracy that we hold so dear.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely, and you heard it, folks. It matters when senators and congresspeople hear from you, so make your calls today.
Senator Jacky Rosen
Call and write, email, do it all. Do it all.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Thanks so much, Senator. Take care.
Senator Jacky Rosen
Anytime. Thank you. Bye-bye.
