Rachel Moran, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, spoke with NPR about plans by congressional Democrats to expand investigations into fatal shootings involving federal immigration agents, including the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Moran discussed the limits of congressional authority and how further investigations could uncover evidence to support state criminal investigations.
From the conversation:
here are key limitations to what Democrats in Congress can do with their majority when it comes to ICE accountability, says Rachel Moran, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.
Major changes, like clawing back funding for the agency, would require a veto-proof majority, something the Democrats don't have.
"You still have a president who has shown a complete lack of interest in accountability for federal agents and in fact, a great deal of knee jerk defensiveness about their conduct," Moran says.
In a statement, a White House spokesperson told NPR "if Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people."
Democrats, the statement added, "should be reminded that we still control the federal government and all of its powers."
But that's not true. Congress has its own powers, one of them being the ability to compel testimony. Moran says a deeper probe into the shootings could still serve important purposes, like making evidence available for states to use in their own criminal investigations.
