The Justice Department is prosecuting Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), who is pregnant and running for reelection, on two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of assaulting, resisting and impeding federal officers; she says the charges could bring up to 17 years in prison. The case stems from a May 9, 2025 congressional oversight visit to Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility in Newark, where federal agents moved to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for trespassing, an arrest officials quickly dropped. Prosecutors allege McIver slammed her forearm into one officer, tried to restrain another and used her forearms to push against an officer while re-entering the facility. No one was injured.
McIver argues the prosecution is political retaliation and that her conduct is protected by the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, which shields lawmakers carrying out legislative duties. U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper rejected her motion to dismiss in November 2025. On June 24, 2026, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard her appeal in Wilmington, Delaware. Her lawyer, Paul Fishman, noted that agents said they were acting on orders from then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Justice Department lawyer Mark Coyne told the court, “Use of physical force is never, never covered by the Speech and Debate clause.”
Prosecuting a sitting member of Congress over conduct during an oversight visit is a significant escalation of the administration's use of the Justice Department against its critics (see The DOJ Indicts 15 Minnesotans on Conspiracy Charges Over Anti-ICE Protests, Citing 'Antifa Ties').
Update (October 2, 2026): On August 26, 2026, a divided Third Circuit panel ruled that the Speech or Debate Clause does not shield the two specific physical acts charged in the first two counts, which can proceed to trial, and sent the broader third count back to Judge Semper to determine whether it covers protected legislative acts. Judge Thomas Ambro dissented on the second count. The court said it lacked jurisdiction to review her selective and vindictive prosecution claims before trial. McIver said, “I fundamentally believe that the court got it wrong here.”
Correction (October 2, 2026): This entry said body-camera footage shows McIver in contact with at least one officer; no source in the entry supports that, and the statement was removed. The title, which described the appeal as pending, was updated after the August 26 ruling.