During a Thursday hearing, former Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) was brutally grilled by Republican lawmakers for his past comments likening Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the "Nazi Gestapo."
Walz appeared alongside Democratic Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York to testify on sanctuary cities before the House Oversight Committee. During the hearing, Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) confronted Walz for comments he made during a commencement ceremony in May where he said, "Donald Trump's modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the street."
'Inflammatory rhetoric such as yours ... is responsible for putting a target on the back of every ICE agent who is risking their life to protect our communities.'
The insinuation Walz made is that federal law enforcement agencies under the direction of President Donald Trump are like the Nazi secret police deployed by Adolf Hitler.
"When you said the words 'modern-day Gestapo,' you were referring to ICE agents," Emmer said. "Gestapo, by the way, sir, was the official secret police of Hitler's Nazi Germany. So you're calling ICE agents modern-day Nazis."
RELATED: Democrats vote overwhelmingly to allow illegal aliens to continue voting in key district
Governor Walz’s comments comparing ICE agents to the Nazi Gestapo is SICKENING.
ICE agents put their lives and safety on the line to arrest criminal illegal aliens let into our country. https://t.co/wUH9hilTRZ pic.twitter.com/QdxkxmQqcW
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 12, 2025
"Given the attacks on ICE agents that took place in Los Angeles over the weekend, don't you regard your dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric as a problem?" Emmer added.
As Emmer pointed out, recent ICE raids in California have been met with violent riots, which he says have been incited by the extreme rhetoric of Walz and other leftist politicians. During these riots, ICE agents and other members of law enforcement have been attacked with rocks, have dealt with arsonists, and have even had details about their location leaked, compromising their safety.
Walz stammered at Emmer's confrontation and failed to address his past comments.
"It saddens me that you refuse to express regret from comparing ICE to Nazis," Emmer said. "ICE agents are brave Americans who get up every morning, leave their families, and put their lives in harm's way to protect our country, sir. You, at the very least, owe an apology to these dedicated public servants."
"Inflammatory rhetoric such as yours, and the other governors on this panel, is responsible for putting a target on the back of every ICE agent who is risking their life to protect our communities."
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Tensions are running high in Congress as the White House keeps pressuring fiscal conservatives to get on board with President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
Despite Trump's Hail Mary pitch to Republicans, specifically fiscal conservatives, Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill, reconciliation talks seem to be going south. While the Rules Committee wraps up its overnight markup, Republicans are still looking for the off-ramp to get their bill passed.
The whole process has been consumed by Republican factions making incompatible demands. The SALT Caucus Republicans were offered a tentative, and very generous, $40,000 cap for state and local tax deductions. Meanwhile, some members of the House Freedom Caucus have pushed for earlier implementation of Medicaid work requirements.
Although both factions made progress toward their respective goals, it still seems like nobody is happy.
'We're going to work with our colleagues to deliver, but there's a long way to go.'
RELATED: Trump pressures House Republican holdouts as reconciliation talks intensify
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas have been two of the most outspoken voices within the conference advocating for fiscal responsibility. Although both acknowledged that moving work requirements to an earlier date rather than the original 2029 implementation was a step in the right direction, they remain unpersuaded by Republican leadership and even the president.
"Look, we are greatly encouraged by the progress that's been made in the last 24 hours," Harris said during a presser Wednesday. "... I'm not sure this can be done this week. I'm pretty confident it can be done in 10 days.”
"We're going to work with the president today," Roy said during the presser. "We're going to work with our colleagues to deliver, but there's a long way to go. I want to be very clear. We've got to deliver on what we're talking about, but we're not going to be able to get the bill done, and that's what we're trying to achieve.”
Harris told reporters that they initially struck a deal with the White House last night but that they've since walked away from the agreement. A White House official countered the claim and said the administration offered Harris and other spending hawks an array of policy options that the president would allow on the condition that they are able to get the votes.
Trump is now set to meet face-to-face with the House Freedom Caucus and Republican leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.). Notably, Emmer has not yet scheduled the floor vote as, the fate of Trump's bill hangs in the balance.
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House Republicans overwhelmingly voted to repeal one of former President Joe Biden's electric vehicle mandates, while Democrats continue to dig their heels in.
The resolution repealed California's electric vehicle mandate requiring the state to ban the sale of all gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The resolution ultimately passed the House in a 246-164 vote, with 35 Democrats joining 211 Republicans to repeal the EV mandate.
In total, 164 Democrats voted to maintain the mandate.
'Democrat[s'] EV mandates are a slap in the face to rural America.'
"The American people should have the freedom to choose their own cars and not be regulated by woke climate activists from the failed state of California," House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) told Blaze News. "By repealing the Biden administration's radical EV mandates, House Republicans are continuing our efforts to roll back regulations that rob consumer choice from everyday Americans."
The mandate was ultimately struck down using the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to reverse regulations with a simple majority and presidential approval, avoiding the Senate filibuster's 60-vote threshold.
The House also passed a similar resolution Wednesday night that overturned another California regulation mandating the sale of zero-emissions trucks in the state. The resolution similarly passed along party lines in a 216-195 vote, with 213 Republicans and just three Democrats voting to repeal the mandate.
Overall, one Republican and 194 Democrats voted to keep the regulation.
"The House of Representatives just passed the Resolution I sponsored to reverse California’s EV mandate for trucks," Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley of California said in a post on X. "In a major win for sanity, it passed with bipartisan support."
"Democrat[s'] EV mandates are a slap in the face to rural America — pushed by urban elites who’ve never set foot on a farm," Republican Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois said in a post on X. "Let Americans drive what works. Keep woke climate activists away from our trucks!"
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the almost-Vice-President of the United States of America, repeatedly refused during a Thursday congressional hearing to apologize for comparing ICE agents to the Gestapo. “Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the streets,” Waltz said in a commencement speech at the University of Minnesota’s law school last month. “They’re […]
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