What CBP Told Congress

Today’s notice: Ilhan Omar assaulted at a town hall. CBP’s story changes in a report to Congress. Many more Democrats sign on to impeach Kristi Noem. The RNC’s big bill for makeup. And: A new investigation into what’s happening at FEMA.

FYI: Today at 12 p.m. ET, congressional reporter and On NOTUS host Reese Gorman is doing an AMA over on Reddit’s r/politics.

THE LATEST

Omar assaulted at town hall: Thirty minutes into a constituent event in Minneapolis last night, Rep. Ilhan Omar had an unknown substance sprayed on her by a man in the front row. The video is jarring. He was arrested and charged with third-degree assault, NOTUS’ Amelia Benavides-Colón reports.

“We will continue,” Omar told a cheering crowd after the man was taken into custody. She finished the event. “These fucking assholes are not going to get away with it,” she said.

‘Brandished’ banished: In an official report to Congress on the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility notably omits the central narrative pushed by top aides to Donald Trump in the wake of the incident: that Pretti was threatening officers with the holstered pistol he was legally permitted to carry.

The review does not mention that Pretti ever brandished his gun or threatened federal agents, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman and Helen Huiskes report. (A CBP spox said reports like these “provide an initial outline of an event that took place and do not convey any definitive conclusion or investigative findings.”)

Even Stephen Miller is changing his tune. “The initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground,” Trump’s influential homeland security adviser said in a statement shared with NOTUS. “The White House provided clear guidance to DHS that the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota for force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors. We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol.”

The politics of this are getting harder for the Trump administration. The heads of ICE, CBP and USCIS are set to testify before the House Homeland Security Committee on Feb. 10. Sen. Rand Paul posted on X that the same group would go before the Senate’s homeland security committee two days later.

Support for Kristi Noem is waning. “That’s the president’s judgement call,” Senate Republican Leader John Thune told reporters when asked if he has confidence in the DHS secretary.

“No,” was Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s answer to that question, NOTUS’ Oriana González reports.

First on NOTUS: There may still be more to come. We were tipped last night that Democracy Defenders Fund, the group that counts Norm Eisen and Bill Kristol among its leadership, is filing a series of FOIA requests today demanding internal communications from Noem, Greg Bovino and other top immigration officials about the Pretti killing and its aftermath.

Open tabs: OpenAI’s Altman and More C.E.O.s Weigh In on Minnesota (NYT); Trump’s acting cyber chief uploaded sensitive files into public version of ChatGPT (Politico); State Judge in Virginia Blocks Democrats’ Redistricting Effort (NOTUS); Pretti broke rib in confrontation with federal agents a week before his death (CNN)

From The Hill

House Democrats embrace impeaching Noem: At least 75% of the caucus has signed on to the effort led by Rep. Robin Kelly, and now leadership has signaled it’s supportive of it, NOTUS’ Manuela Silva reports. Democrats can’t impeach her on their own, obviously. And even if the Senate’s distaste for Noem is growing, it’s unlikely the chamber would take up impeachment.

Hey, anything could happen, right? The co-chairs of the Problem Solvers Caucus are asking for a meeting with Trump to discuss a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration-reform bill in the wake of Minneapolis. Oriana obtained a copy of the letter sent to the White House by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican, and Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, which details five points a bill could be built around.

The last one: “Require that all federal law enforcement-involved shooting incidents must be subject to a thorough independent investigation and an objective and unbiased review of the evidence.”

From the campaign trail

He’s all but running: Four people close to Rep. Jim Clyburn told NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz and Riley Rogerson they expect the 85-year-old Democrat from South Carolina to run for his 18th term. While his fellow octogenarian colleagues are stepping down, those close to Clyburn think he wants to stick around to see Hakeem Jeffries potentially take the speaker’s gavel and play a role in 2028.

The Hoosier punishment shall commence: Trump endorsed three primary challengers against Republican state lawmakers in Indiana, NOTUS’ Christa Dutton reports. It’s a sign his political operation is making good on threats to defeat Republicans who refused to go along with his plan to redistrict the state.

From the White House

If you’re asking, you can’t afford it: Between April and November, the RNC spent more than $59,000 on “media preparation,” paid to a pair of makeup artists, NOTUS’ Violet Jira reports. $53,850 went to Brittany Goetz, a professional hair and makeup artist who publicized her work with Karoline Leavitt, as well as other Republican officials and personalities.

One payment to Goetz came on the same day as that infamous photo shoot for Vanity Fair, though there’s no direct evidence Goetz was there. Neither she nor the White House responded to a request for comment.

Worth noting: The DNC also paid a makeup artist more than $10,000 last year.

NOTUS INVESTIGATION

Kristi Noem’s hazard mitigation funding hold: “Both of our senators are Democrats. I understand the nuance,” Philo Shelton, the utilities manager of Los Alamos County, New Mexico, said recently. He’s just one of many local officials across the country waiting for Noem to approve his state’s request for hazard mitigation funds.

The scope of this problem has not been revealed before now. NOTUS’ Anna Kramer and Torrence Banks reviewed public disclosures and obtained internal documents that show somewhere north of $1 billion in requests from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program — all approved by FEMA at the regional level — are awaiting Noem’s personal sign-off, a requirement she put in place for any DHS spending over $100,000.

What this means: Local officials say projects designed to reduce death and destruction caused by natural disasters are not getting completed.

Who’s not getting money: Louisiana, Florida, Texas, California, New Jersey and Puerto Rico have the most requested funds waiting for Noem to sign off on. Anna and Torrence report that they are the places that most frequently incur the costliest damage from severe storms.

Who is getting money: Georgia, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

How they got paid: Republican lawmakers lobbied hard. “The process takes a while, and it’s frustrating,” Rep. Buddy Carter said. “But that’s what we have to navigate. It’s good when it gets there. It’s just unfortunate it takes so long to get there sometimes.”

NEW ON NOTUS

Basta! “It is clear they are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt,” the Italian city’s mayor said of U.S. ICE agents set to serve as part of security operations at the upcoming Winter Olympics. The planned ICE presence has become a true international flap in Europe, though U.S. officials insist “all security operations remain under Italian authority.”

More: Democrats Are Taking Claims of Anti-Trump Censorship on TikTok Seriously, by Samuel Larreal

‘Latinas for Trump’ Co-Founder Says Trump Will Lose the Midterms ‘Because of Stephen Miller,’ by Amelia Benavides-Colón

NOTUS PERSPECTIVES

Can a populist who likens herself to Zohran Mamdani topple a staid Democratic incumbent in North Carolina? A deep dive on a primary that will reveal a lot about the mood of Democratic voters in 2026.

NOT US

• Outrage over ICE has spilled into typically apolitical online spaces, by Drew Harwell and Scott Nover for The Washington Post
  
• Maine’s Immigrant Students Stay Home as ICE Operation Ramps Up, by Jenna Russell and Sophie Park for The New York Times
  
• Trump has become the ultimate activist investor, and CEOs are gearing up for battle, by Rohan Goswami for Semafor

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