Does the Constitution Protect This Congresswoman From Trump?

The Trump administration has made a habit of pressing criminal charges against Americans observing and protesting harsh immigration-enforcement tactics, using the power of the executive branch to intimidate and punish those who visibly dissent from the president’s political agenda. In many ways, the prosecution of LaMonica McIver is in line with this general approach. Last May, she was charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding” federal officials after ICE agents tangled with her outside a Newark, New Jersey, immigration detention center, at one point violently pushing her. But an important factor makes McIver’s case unique: She is a member of Congress.

McIver’s case reflects both President Trump’s aggressive tactics on immigration and the broader dynamics between Trump and Congress: a vindictive executive and a struggling legislative branch yet to find its footing in a legal system tilted in favor of presidential power. Trump has ignored congressional budgetary outlays, attempted to shut entire congressionally mandated agencies, and treated House and Senate hearings with contempt. But the McIver case represents his most sustained attack on an individual lawmaker. Earlier today, McIver filed her first brief before an appeals court, asking the judges to throw out her prosecution as an illegal infringement on the protections afforded to Congress under the speech-or-debate clause of the Constitution.