Senator Blumenthal: Week in Review 1/16/2026-1/23/2026

Demanding Accountability for Secret ICE Policy Ignoring the Fourth Amendment

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), is demanding accountability following whistleblower disclosures detailing a secret U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy permitting agents to circumvent the privacy protections in the Constitution's Fourth Amendment and enter Americans' homes without a standard warrant.

Anonymous whistleblowers disclosed a policy memo written by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons authorizing federal immigration agents to enter American homes without a judicial warrant in order to effectuate civil immigration arrests. This policy is directly contrary to longstanding legal interpretation of the Fourth Amendment and agency practice, which requires ICE agents to obtain a judicial warrant duly signed and executed by a judge in order to enter someone's home. The whistleblower disclosure and public reporting reveal at least two examples of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials wrongly entering the homes of American families in the past year.

"Every American should be terrified by this secret ICE policy authorizing its agents to kick down your door and storm into your home. It is a legally and morally abhorrent policy that exemplifies the kinds of dangerous, disgraceful abuses America is seeing in real time. In our democracy, with vanishingly rare exceptions, the government is barred from breaking into your home without a judge giving a green light. Government agents have no right to ransack your bedroom or terrorize your kids on a whim or personal desire. I am deeply grateful to brave whistleblowers who have come forward and put the rights of their fellow Americans first."

"My Republican colleagues who claim to value personal rights against government overreach now have an opportunity and obligation to prove that rhetoric is real. They must hold hearings and join me in demanding the Trump Administration answer for this lawless policy."

Blumenthal is demanding DHS Secretary Kristi Noem provide an explanation for the policy and calling for hearings in both the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees. Blumenthal also wrote the Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers to determine if instructors have secretly been directed to verbally train newly hired ICE agents to enter people's homes without a judicial warrant.

Blumenthal joined MS NOW to discuss the secret ICE memo telling agents to disregard the Fourth Amendment.

"What is really terrifying about this memo is not only that it directs agents to engage in blatantly unconstitutional action, but it is also from the Acting Director of ICE, Todd Lyons. The highest levels of ICE, in effect, are saying that agents should break down your door, ransack your home, terrify your children, arrest or detain you without a judicial warrant. Americans ought to be terrified as well as shocked. And it simply means that the law means nothing to these agents. We've seen it on the streets, but now we know that it is authorized at the highest level of ICE," said Blumenthal on MS NOW.

The full interview can be found here.

Blumenthal also joined CNN to discuss the ICE memo, calling it a "blatant, craven violation of the fourth amendment." The full interview with CNN can be found here.

Blumenthal is leading an ongoing investigation into the treatment of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents. In October, Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, opened an inquiry into frequent reports of unconstitutional detentions of U.S. citizens by agents of ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), often using disproportionate force.

In December, Blumenthal released a report highlighting firsthand accounts of twenty-two Americans who were physically assaulted, pepper sprayed, denied medical treatment, and detained - sometimes for days - by federal immigration agents. The report, Unchecked Authority: Examining the Trump Administration's Extrajudicial Immigration Detentions Of U.S. Citizens, was released ahead of a bicameral public forum hosted by Blumenthal and Garcia to receive testimony from five Americans who were unconstitutionally detained by DHS agents.

Last week, following the killing of Renee Nicole Good, an unarmed U.S. citizen, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota Blumenthal wrote Noem seeking information and records regarding ICE training policies. The full text of Blumenthal's letter to Noem is available here.

Blumenthal's letter to Noem demanding information about the ICE policy is available here.

Blumenthal's letter to U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and to U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, requesting hearings in those committees is available here.

Blumenthal's letter to Benjamin Huffman, Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, is available here.

On the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee

Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Blumenthal released a comprehensive report detailing the harm and impacts of the Trump Administration's draconian directives and cuts on veterans. The report, Breaking the Pact: Impacts of Trump, DOGE, and Doug Collins' Ongoing Assault on Veterans, was released ahead of the Committee's oversight hearing with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins next week.

Blumenthal's report reveals historic staffing losses at the Department resulting in dire workforce shortages, increasing wait times for life-saving mental health care, and veterans' care and benefits being put at risk as a direct result of the Trump Administration's harmful policies. The Committee report-compiled from extensive reporting, firsthand accounts, and ongoing conversations with veterans and VA employees across the nation-details the Administration's systemic assault on VA over the past year and the tangible impacts its cuts are having on veterans.

"Instead of building on the progress of the Biden Administration and prioritizing veterans' best interests, the Trump Administration has spent the last year recklessly implementing politically-motivated policies that place veterans' care and benefits at greater risk than ever before," said Blumenthal. "The costs of these policies are mounting. VA is hemorrhaging doctors, mental health professionals, nurses, and other frontline providers. Experienced staff are leaving in droves, while recruitment falters amid toxic working conditions and indiscriminate firings. The resulting harm to the quality and timeliness of care will be felt for years. And this growing damage helps explain why the Trump Administration has often refused to provide Congress with even the most basic information about their policies and their impact on veterans."

Blumenthal continued, "This report-grounded in testimony from veterans and VA employees-seeks to expose that cover-up and document the harm inflicted. The conclusion is unmistakable: Veterans are paying the price for this Administration's self-inflicted sabotage, while dedicated VA employees are demoralized and exhausted by the incompetence and hostility of their leadership."

The full report is found here.

Blumenthal held a virtual press conference discussing the comprehensive report detailing the harm and impacts of the Trump Administration's draconian directives and cuts on veterans. Blumenthal was joined by veterans' advocates and labor partners at the press conference.

"It is a fight-make no mistake. The Veterans Administration is a great institution. It provides health care to so many of our nation's heroes, it makes sure they receive compensation and disability benefits, and it provides role models for young people-my two sons, one who served in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan as an Infantry Officer, the other, a Navy SEAL. But this agency really needs support right now, urgently and immediately, because it will be diminished. The trend that we are seeing is frightening. It is frightening and deeply alarming because it will have negative impacts for our veterans," said Blumenthal at the press conference.

A recording of the full press conference can be found here.

Fighting to Prevent Tragic Roadside Deaths

Blumenthal announced at a press conference new bipartisan legislation he is leading with U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) to reduce the number of roadside and work zone fatalities. The Preventing Roadside and Work Zone Deaths Act would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to collect, analyze, compile, and publish accurate, detailed data on disabled roadside vehicle crashes and work zone crashes to develop a strategic plan to stop these incidents.

"I am proposing legislation that will compel states to do strategic plans-in the way Connecticut has done-but also federal funding for programs to stop these needless preventable deaths. We should be angry as well as grief-stricken. Slow Down, Move Over is designed to protect the good Samaritan among us, who stop to help people change a tire, start an engine, tow truck drivers, first responders when there is a crash, construction workers making the roads better, doing their work. Unacceptable that we continue to lose lives when drivers have failed to slow down and move over," said Blumenthal at the press conference.

The bill builds on Blumenthal's annual Slow Down Move Over resolutions inspired by Corey Iodice. In recent years, the resolutions have honored State Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier, who was struck by a driver during a traffic stop in 2024, Andrew DiDomenico, a ConnDOT worker struck and killed on the job in 2024, and Jose Diaz Nieves, a construction workers struck and killed on a jobsite in Hartford in 2024.

Blumenthal also highlighted the need for his legislation to prevent roadside tragedies on Twitter/X.

"Slow Down, Move Over saves lives-it's that simple. My legislation prevents senseless injuries & deaths for our first responders, tow truck operators, construction workers, & more," wrote Blumenthal on Twitter/X.

Demanding an Investigation of Fire Truck Monopoly

Blumenthal joined the West Hartford Fire Department and Fire Chiefs from across Connecticut at a press conference to sound the alarm on the rising costs and years-long delays departments are facing when buying new fire trucks.Many Connecticut Fire Departments are seeing steep increases in the cost of fire trucks, years-long delays in delivery of new fire trucks and declining quality of the product. This is caused in part by market consolidation-three companies now have 80% control over the market for fire trucks. This has forced many Connecticut departments to delay purchasing new trucks or continue relying on aging equipment, putting both the public and first responders at risk.

Blumenthal is demanding the Federal Trade Commission open an antitrust investigation into the companies and bring enforcement action if necessary.

"Buying a firetruck has become a nightmare. As the Chief outlined for you, costs have doubled, delays have tripled or quadrupled, quality has declined, imperiling public safety and putting fire fighters at risk. And that is unconscionable. What we need is the Federal Trade Commission to intervene here and make sure there is competition in the market-that's the job of the FTC. But even more, we need federal action from Congress. We can't rely on the Federal Trade Commission alone," said Blumenthal at the press conference.

Blumenthal further highlighted the need for intervention from the Federal Trade Commission and Congress to break up the monopoly of fire truck market on Twitter/X.

"Buying a fire truck has become a nightmare. Monopolistic market control by 3 companies causes skyrocketing prices, longer delays & lower quality. I'm fighting for FTC & Congressional action," wrote Blumenthal on Twitter/X.

Blumenthal Bulletin

Blumenthal sounded the alarm on USPS delays.

Blumenthal joined Delta Sigma Theta's 41^st annual MLK Scholarship Breakfast.

Blumenthal attended Westport Library's 20^th annual MLK Conversation with champions Jelani Cobb & Trey Ellis.

Blumenthal joined students, teachers, and the Meriden community in celebrating MLK's ideals and high schoolers who embody them.

Blumenthal attended Norwalk's Grace Baptist Church's MLK Day Ecumenical Service.

Blumenthal highlighted the need to protect student athletes and fans with his bipartisan proposal.

-30-

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet