Minneapolis and Washington respond to another DHS shooting: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we have new reporting and analysis from across our newsroom on the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this weekend — from the ongoing investigation to congressional Republicans calling for testimony to the impact on pending government funding legislation.

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— Scott Bland

The latest from Minneapolis — and the response in Washington

Government reviewing bodycam video: Investigators are reviewing body camera videos from immigration agents in the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed, per NBC News’ Julia Ainsley and Daniel Arkin.

Pretti was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis on Saturday in the city’s second fatal shooting by a federal officer this month amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration in Minnesota.

The encounter was recorded by eyewitnesses, and videos circulated widely on social media throughout the weekend. DHS has said an agent shot Pretti in self-defense after he violently resisted attempts to disarm him.

But eyewitness videos recorded from various angles appear to contradict elements of the department’s account of events.

Meanwhile: President Donald Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke by phone Monday, Adam Edelman reports, signaling a potential path to ease the boiling tensions in the state.

Trump said on Truth Social that Walz, a Democrat, requested that they “work together.”

“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump wrote.

It is a noticeable shift in the way Trump has talked about Walz, whom he has repeatedly criticized for his handling of a fraud scandal in Minnesota and blamed for unrest that has led to federal officers’ shooting and killing two people in recent weeks.

As recently as Saturday, after Pretti was killed, Trump accused Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who is also a Democrat, of “inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric” and slammed them as “sanctimonious political fools.”

Government funding at stake: Most of the federal government could shut down at the end of the week, Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V write. But that most likely wouldn’t halt aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations in Minneapolis and other parts of the country.

Senate Democrats have vowed to block a sweeping government funding bill unless the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations are significantly restricted.

With Republicans plowing ahead with a vote on the House-passed $1.2 trillion funding package later this week, a partial shutdown beginning Saturday now seems increasingly likely. Money is set to run out for DHS, which oversees ICE, and many other critical agencies late Friday.

But under DHS’ shutdown plan, a GOP leadership source said, ICE employees would be considered “excepted” workers and would be required to continue showing up, though they, like other workers, wouldn’t get paid.

On top of that, even in a shutdown, ICE would continue to have ample funding, since it received $75 billion of additional money for detention and enforcement from Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last year, the GOP source noted.

➡️ Read more here: Trump, who said his administration is “reviewing everything” about the shooting, is sending border “czar” Tom Homan to Minnesota on Monday night to manage ICE operations on the ground. Meanwhile, Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino is expected to leave Minneapolis Tuesday, and Border Patrol is planning to reduce its footprint in the city later this week.

The Trump administration’s playbook after fatal DHS shootings

Analysis by Colleen Long, Jason Abbruzzese and Erik Ortiz

Hours after an immigration agent shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, the Trump administration shared its version of events: An armed man confronted officers bent on violence, and the agent fired in self-defense.

Officials took a similar approach two weeks earlier, when an immigration officer shot and killed Renee Good. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem quickly defended the officer’s response and said Good had tried to ram the officer in an act of domestic terrorism.

Both responses followed what political communications researchers say is a signature Trump approach to crisis management: First go on the attack. The administration stuck by those narratives even as witness videos and details emerged in both cases that cast doubt on their accounts and depicted far more complicated encounters.

Pretti, an intensive care nurse, apparently wasn’t holding a gun when he was shot and may have been coming to the aid of a demonstrator, videos show. Moments before Good was killed, the officer ordered her out of her car, but she didn’t get out. Video shows the car wheels pointing away from the officer as she moves forward.

Trump is deeply attuned to public perception and is highly skilled at managing the political narrative. His administration’s approach on immigration leaves little room for nuance by design, according to former DHS officials. It’s an effort to sway the public on aggressive enforcement tactics that have resulted in at least a dozen shootings since September. It also sends a message to the officers that their actions won’t be questioned.

👂 Hearing check: The Republican chairs of the House and Senate Homeland Security committees, Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, are calling for federal immigration officials to testify in front of their panels. Read more →
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 DHS impeachment push growing: Eight more Democrats signed on to a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Read more →
🔄 Campaign exit: Republican Chris Madel dropped out of the Minnesota governor’s race, saying in a video on X that he “cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of our state.” Read more →
⚖️ Halligan out: Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan is no longer employed by the Justice Department after she left from a U.S. attorney’s office in Virginia. Read more →
🏛️ Veteran retiring: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has served in Congress as the nonvoting representative for the District of Columbia since 1991, has filed paperwork indicating she won’t seek re-election. Read more →