Congress Abandoned Oversight of $28B Immigration Agency

$28 billion. That's how much Congress allocated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2025—nearly triple the previous year's $8 billion. ICE agents more than doubled. Yet the Republican majorities controlling both chambers of Congress took an unprecedented hands-off approach to overseeing what became America's most heavily funded law enforcement agency.

Until Minneapolis changed everything.

The Oversight That Wasn't

Since ICE's massive funding increase, the Senate held just one public hearing on the agency, according to unpublished data from congressional oversight expert Professor Claire Leavitt. The House managed a few routine DHS oversight hearings, but none focused specifically on ICE or Customs and Border Protection.

This represents a dramatic departure from congressional tradition. The Constitution grants Congress clear authority to oversee and investigate the executive branch. After authorizing funding for federal programs, lawmakers typically conduct substantial oversight to ensure policies are carried out successfully and as originally intended.

The silence becomes more striking when you consider the scale of transformation. ICE evolved from a mid-sized agency into the nation's largest law enforcement operation with minimal congressional scrutiny. For a party that traditionally champions fiscal responsibility and government accountability, the Republican approach was notably restrained.

Minneapolis Forces a Reckoning

The January 2026 killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis shattered the quiet. Suddenly, members from both parties began calling for investigations—though what form those investigations should take remains contentious.

The Justice Department announced a civil rights investigation into Pretti's death on January 30, while DHS said the FBI would lead the federal probe with ICE assistance. But Congress could go further, establishing an independent, bipartisan commission similar to those that investigated 9/11 or recommended $4 trillion in budget changes to address the national debt in 2010.

Senate oversight chair Rand Paul and House Homeland Security Committee chair Andrew Garbarino have requested testimony from top immigration officials this month. Yet other Republican lawmakers remain vague about investigation scope and leadership—a hesitancy that reveals deeper political calculations.

The Political Calculus of Accountability

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Political scientists have documented a clear pattern: committees are less likely to investigate the executive branch when the president belongs to their own party. Executive branch investigations typically diminish presidential approval ratings, creating electoral risks for the governing party.

But congressional-led investigations offer distinct advantages over executive branch inquiries. Even combative committee hearings serve as valuable information-gathering forums, helping lawmakers thoroughly understand issues and craft effective policy changes. An in-depth committee investigation of the Minneapolis killings could increase the likelihood that new restrictions and oversight mechanisms become law.

Congress's subpoena power provides legally binding tools to extract necessary information from agencies under investigation. This information becomes part of the historical record—consider the exhaustively detailed timelines produced by the January 6th Committee in 2022 or the Benghazi Committee in 2016, which exist nowhere else.

When Oversight Transcends Partisanship

Significant bipartisan probes do occur even in highly polarized eras. In 2005, Virginia Republican Tom Davis launched an inquiry into the George W. Bush administration's Hurricane Katrina response despite White House pushback. More recently, the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee investigated Republican Governor Rick Snyder's handling of the Flint water crisis in 2018, earning praise from Democratic panel members.

Republican-led investigations into the Minneapolis killings could lend credibility to both the party and the independence of the legislative branch. However, the risks are substantial.

The Grandstanding Trap

While Congress possesses investigative powers, it lacks enforcement authority. Lawmakers can recommend criminal charges after investigations, but only the Justice Department can bring indictments. Public hearings also carry significant political risks, as members often engage in performative outrage and grandstanding that helps individual electoral prospects but diminishes collective public faith in Congress's legitimacy.

Given the continuing partisan divide over ICE and the agency's increased presence in Minneapolis and other cities, congressional hearings could easily devolve into rancor and name-calling. The very polarization that initially discouraged oversight could now poison any investigation attempts.

The 2026 Factor

Yet public opinion polling reveals that ICE has become a political liability for Trump and the Republican Party. With midterm elections approaching, Republican lawmakers may no longer be able to afford silence.

The timing creates an unusual dynamic. The same political calculations that initially discouraged oversight—protecting a same-party president—now potentially encourage it as electoral self-preservation. Republicans face a choice between continued loyalty to Trump's immigration agenda and responsiveness to shifting public sentiment.

The answer may determine not just the fate of immigration policy, but the health of American democratic institutions themselves.