Sen Amy Klobuchar vows to oppose DHS funding after second fatal Minneapolis shooting

WASHINGTON, DC: Sen Amy Klobuchar said on Sunday, January 25, that she would vote against funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following the latest fatal shooting of a civilian by a federal officer in Minneapolis.

Appearing on NBC News ‘Meet the Press’, Klobuchar said that recent federal actions in her state were unacceptable and incompatible with constitutional protections.

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

Democrats threaten to block DHS funding 

Klobuchar’s stance aligned her with a growing group of Democrats who announced that they would oppose DHS funding unless Congress imposed tighter restrictions on immigration enforcement operations.

Their opposition could prove decisive, as the spending bill requires a handful of Democratic votes to pass the Senate.

Lawmakers are expected to take up the appropriations measure this week. Failure to approve the bill could trigger a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reinforced the party’s position on Saturday, saying Democrats would not provide the votes needed to pass a bill that included DHS funding under current conditions.

Second fatal shooting in Minneapolis in January 2026

The latest controversy centered on the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse shot and killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis on Saturday. It was the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the city this month.

Earlier, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, intensifying scrutiny of federal law enforcement activity in the area.

Local officials had said that Pretti was a US citizen and legally permitted to carry a firearm. Witness videos circulating publicly appeared to contradict the Trump administration’s description of the incident.

Administration officials said that Pretti had approached law enforcement with a gun and “violently resisted” officers when they attempted to disarm him.

However, the videos reportedly showed Pretti moving to assist another individual who had been pushed by federal agents. The footage did not appear to show Pretti holding a gun in the moments before he was shot.

Klobuchar said that the discrepancy between official statements and video evidence was deeply troubling. “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.

Amy Klobuchar calls for GOP support and ICE withdrawal

Klobuchar urged Republican senators to join Democrats in opposing DHS funding, framing the issue as a constitutional test rather than a partisan fight.

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

She also called on ICE to withdraw from Minnesota, arguing that the agency’s actions were undermining public safety rather than enhancing it.

“They are making us less safe, not more safe,” Klobuchar said.