Chellie Pingree

On Tuesday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) said that every single incident like the ICE shooting in Maine “give[s] us more leverage to say to our Republican colleagues, when are you going to shut down this agency?”

Co-host Michel Martin asked, [relevant exchange begins around 4:25] “[W]e only have about 30 seconds here, but the — part of the whole conflict with — like, between the Congress and shutting down the government earlier was to ensure that there were certain controls placed on ICE operations. None of that occurred. So what levers do you actually have to ensure that local officials get access to this?”

Pingree answered, “Well, each one of these incidents, I think, give[s] us more leverage to say to our Republican colleagues, when are you going to shut down this agency? When are you going to block the horrendous amounts of funding that you’ve given them? They are lawless and operating in a way that isn’t consistent with law enforcement. And we will continue to fight for that. And if we’re in the majority, we’ll certainly take action.”