Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2026 — Senator Murray: Republicans Must Work with Us on Common Sense Reforms to Rein in ICE and CBP
Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined House and Senate Democratic leaders at a press conference following a bicameral meeting on negotiations over the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill and delivered the following remarks.
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‘I did not come from Brooklyn, nor did I come from the House, but I did come here as a mom in tennis shoes who today is very angry about what is happening to families in my community and across the country.
‘Everyone in America with eyes and ears can see what’s been happening in Minnesota and across the country.
‘The injustice is clear as day. And what the American people are demanding is equally clear: Law enforcement cannot be lawless—but that’s exactly what we have been seeing from ICE and CBP.
‘We have seen people that have done nothing wrong—get abducted by masked agents with no warrant and shipped across the country. We have seen peaceful protestors and observers get tear gassed, tackled, detained, and even killed in cold blood.
‘And we’ve seen the Trump administration responses grow more unhinged and infuriating by the day. The lies have become completely detached from reality.
‘Enough. We are not going to fund a rogue Department with its unchecked agents and officers. We are going to have accountability at DHS or there will not be Democratic votes to fund a lawless agency.
‘If Republicans refuse to make the changes the American people are demanding—they are forcing a Republican shutdown of DHS.
‘The chaos, the brutality—all of it happened at the explicit direction of this president and a Republican Congress that wrote him a blank check.
‘If Republicans want Democratic votes to fix that—then they need to understand that half-measures won’t cut it.
‘What Democrats are demanding is reasonable, and it is necessary. End the roving patrols. Hold federal agents accountable, and hold them to the same standards as local law enforcement on basic things like use of force. Get “masks off,” get body cameras on, and ensure proper identification.
‘Democrats are at the table. We are focused on getting a bill—but it has to be a bill that reins in the abuses that we are seeing by ICE and CBP.
‘And I’ll just say: Democrats—all of us—we are strongly supporting the mission of FEMA and the Coast Guard in this bill— but the American people are demanding guardrails to rein in ICE and Border Patrol. So that has to happen.
‘Americans are demanding accountability; we will settle for nothing less.’
[Watch here.]
Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2026 — Warren, Lawmakers Push for Expedited Probe of ICE’s Violence After Watchdog Confirms Investigation
Lawmakers urge independent Inspector General to fast-track investigation following horrific videos, witness statements, reports of masked immigration agents using aggressive force in communities across America
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), along with Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), led colleagues in pressing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to expedite its investigation into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents’ use of force. The Congressional push follows violent ICE operations in Minneapolis that resulted in the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month, in addition to reports of ICE agents using increasingly aggressive tactics and entering homes without a warrant.
Other signers include: Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), along with Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Madeline Dean (D-Pa.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Al Green (D-Texas), Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), and James Walkinshaw (D-Va.).
‘Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have gotten out of control, using needlessly violent force against community members who are exercising their First Amendment rights and pose no threat,’ wrote the lawmakers.
The DHS OIG is responsible for conducting independent oversight of the agency to identify instances of misconduct and reporting findings directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security and Congress. Since the start of the Trump Administration, ICE’s tactics have become increasingly aggressive, with reports and bystander videos showing immigration agents placing people in chokeholds during arrests, tackling people to the ground, releasing tear gas and flashbang grenades at close range, smashing windows and breaking doors, and brandishing guns.
Last month, these aggressive tactics led to the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens: a mother named Renée Good and ICU nurse Alex Pretti.
‘These events underscore the urgent need for the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General to conduct an expeditious review of ICE’s and Customs and Border Protection’s brutal tactics and share its findings with Congress and the public as soon as possible,’ wrote the lawmakers.
In June 2025, Senator Warren and lawmakers pressed the DHS OIG to open an investigation into ICE’s aggressive enforcement operations and answer key oversight questions. On January 8, 2026, OIG announced a new audit along the lines of the lawmakers’ request ‘to determine whether ICE investigates allegations of excessive use of force and holds personnel accountable’ consistent with federal law and DHS and ICE policies. Since the lawmakers’ June letter, the OIG also initiated five other audits into DHS’s practices, including DHS processes for determining U.S. citizenship during enforcement operations and CBP interior enforcement.
But OIG audits typically take over a year to complete, even as ICE continues to cause severe harm on the ground. Given the urgency — and the growing risk to public safety and civil rights — the lawmakers urged OIG to expedite its audit, provide interim briefings and preliminary findings to Congress, and use escalation tools — including Management Alerts and 7-day letters — if ICE refuses to comply with OIG’s data access requests.
Recent comments from the Trump administration raise concerns that ICE agents are being told to behave illegally when conducting immigration enforcement. President Trump has consistently downplayed ICE agents’ actions, claiming that it is ‘inevitable’ that agents will be ‘too rough’ and ‘make mistakes sometimes,’ while White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has suggested that ICE agents have blanket ‘federal immunity’ when carrying out their duties. DHS recently circulated an internal memo advising agents that they could enter homes without a judicial warrant in certain circumstances.
‘Given the urgency of this situation — with communities facing severe, and sometimes fatal, harm from ICE’s tactics on American streets every day — we request that your office conduct this review expeditiously and share any preliminary findings with Congress and the public on an expedited basis,’ wrote the lawmakers.
The lawmakers also requested that, as part of this review, the OIG provide answers to a series of questions on ICE’s and CBP’s practices, including use-of-force claims, use of warrants in arrests, detentions and arrests of American citizens, recruitment, vetting, and training, and their process for handling professional misconduct.
Washington D.C., Feb. 4, 2026 — As New Start is Set to Expire, Markey Pushes Trump Administration to Recommit the United States to Arms Control with Russia
Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-chair of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, today released the following statement urging the Trump administration to recommit the United States to arms control agreements to prevent a new nuclear arms race.
Senator Markey’s statement comes as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) is set to expire on Thursday; with New START’s expiration, there will be no legal limits on U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear forces, reversing decades of work to reduce the risk of nuclear war. Last year, Senator Markey introduced a resolution pushing the Trump administration to work with Russia to replace New START.
‘The expiration of New START brings great risk for a dangerous and costly nuclear arms race between the United States, Russia and China,’ said Senator Markey. ‘The Trump administration’s aggressive foreign policy posture makes it even more likely that Washington and Moscow will increase their nuclear arsenals, and that China will follow. As the Doomsday Clock ticks closer and closer to midnight, we must replace New START as soon as we can. We cannot wait any longer.’
As a founder of the national Nuclear Freeze movement, Senator Markey has worked for decades to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
[Read more here.]
Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2026 — Warren, Wyden, Blumenthal Call on Federal Regulators to Investigate Meta, Google, NVIDIA “Reverse Acqui-hire” Deals
In ‘de facto’ mergers, Big Tech firms license technology, siphon top talent from smaller rivals
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In a new letter today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee; and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to enforce antitrust laws by investigating recent Big Tech ‘reverse acqui-hire’ transactions, which, the senators warn, appear to be designed to evade antitrust scrutiny and risk further consolidating the Big Tech industry.
‘The FTC and DOJ should not allow these companies to avoid the typical reviews that your agencies apply to acquisitions and mergers,’ said the senators.
In January 2026, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson announced the agency would investigate Big Tech acqui hires. The senators highlighted three recent ‘reverse acqui-hire’ deals, which involved Big Tech firms hiring top talent from smaller competitors and acquiring minority stakes in those competitors or licensing their technology, stopping just short of a formal acquisition or merger.
In June 2025, Meta announced a deal with Scale AI, in which Meta hired Scale AI’s CEO and acquired a large minority stake in the company, as part of its plan to start a new artificial intelligence (AI) research lab. Weeks after the deal was announced, Scale AI cut 200 full-time employees and ended work with 500 contractors, leading one investor to compare Scale AI to a ‘gutted fish.’
In July 2025, Google struck a deal with Windsurf, a start-up that developed an AI coding assistant, poaching its two co-founders and licensing the company’s technology. The deal also saw Windsurf’s research and development team join Google as well. The remaining parts of the company were later acquired by Cognition AI.
In December 2025, NVIDIA announced a new $20 billion licensing deal for Groq’s inference chip technology. As part of the deal, Groq’s founder, president, and other staff will join NVIDIA. The senators noted that the deal allows NVIDIA, which already dominates the market for AI training chips, to expand its foothold in the market for AI inference chips.
‘[These deals] function as de facto mergers, allowing the companies to consolidate talent, information, and resources, all while apparently attempting to bypass the scrutiny typically applied to mergers and acquisitions,’ wrote the senators.
The senators argued that these deals may present ‘significant competitive concerns’ because of the market power they give to the Big Tech companies.
‘If left unchecked, these types of arrangements between Big Tech companies and smaller AI developers will accelerate consolidation of the AI sector, which in turn risks driving up prices and choking off innovation,’ said the lawmakers.
‘The FTC and DOJ have a responsibility to enforce the nation’s antitrust laws in order to protect consumers, small businesses, and workers, and should not allow Big Tech to engage in acquisition strategies that are designed to limit competition in violation of federal law,’ wrote the senators.
The senators called on the two agencies to closely scrutinize Big Tech ‘reverse acqui-hire’ deals and block or reverse the deals if they violate antitrust laws. Senators Warren and Wyden previously wrote to the FTC and DOJ under the Biden administration, urging them to crack down on anticompetitive behavior in the AI industry, including ‘reverse acqui-hires.’
