Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts voted against requiring federal officers at protests to show their agency and identifier, against requiring a governor's consent before National Guard troops patrol a state, and against body cameras for immigration agents. He voted to confirm the Homeland Security secretaries whose agencies claimed authority to monitor protester networks, including U.S. citizens, and searched a congresswoman's home.
Ricketts also voted to confirm the Justice Department leaders who indicted the President's critics, among them, with a deciding vote, Todd Blanche, and Jeanine Pirro, whose office investigated six Democratic lawmakers over a video. He also cast a deciding vote for Pete Hegseth, whose Pentagon forced reporters who refused its press rules to surrender their badges. At the June 2025 immigration raid in Omaha, Nebraska, witnesses saw agents with their faces covered by masks.
Pete Ricketts's Confirmation Votes and Votes on Federal Agents and Protesters
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm the Homeland Security Secretaries Whose Agencies Monitored Protesters and Searched a Congresswoman's Home. Ricketts voted to confirm Kristi Noem in January 2025 and Markwayne Mullin in March 2026 to lead the Department of Homeland Security. ICE leadership claimed authority to use all available tools to monitor and investigate anti-ICE protester networks, including U.S. citizens, Brookings reported. Under Mullin, Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a court-approved search warrant at Omar's home, 22 days before the election, after Mullin said his department was investigating issues surrounding Representative Ilhan Omar.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm the Justice Department Leaders Who Prosecuted Trump's Critics. Ricketts voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general on February 4, 2025, and Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general on March 5, 2025 and as attorney general on August 8, 2026, when the 50-49 vote needed his yes. Under them the department indicted James Comey and Letitia James, and a judge dismissed both cases because the prosecutor had been unlawfully appointed. Protect Democracy found that "Most of those cases have failed".
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm the Prosecutor Who Investigated Six Democratic Lawmakers Over a Video. On August 2, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Jeanine Pirro as U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. Her office investigated Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin and five other Democratic lawmakers over a video telling troops they may refuse unlawful orders, and after a grand jury on Tuesday declined to indict Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin in February 2026, Pirro dropped the investigation.
- Ricketts Cast a Deciding Vote for Pete Hegseth, Who Restricted the Pentagon Press Corps and Punished a Senator for a Video. On January 24, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense; the vote was 50 to 50 with the Vice President breaking the tie, so Hegseth would not have been confirmed without Ricketts. Under Hegseth's press rules, dozens of Defense Department correspondents refused to sign on to the new guidelines and were forced to surrender their press badges, and the Pentagon polygraphed approximately 50 members of the U.S. military's Joint Staff in a leak hunt. Hegseth moved to cut Sen. Mark Kelly's military retirement pay as punishment for the video on illegal orders, until a judge granted Sen. Mark Kelly's request for a preliminary injunction against Pete Hegseth.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm Marco Rubio, Whose State Department Revoked Students' Visas Over Their Speech. On January 20, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Marco Rubio as secretary of state. Rubio's department revoked Rümeysa Öztürk's student visa for writing an op-ed in her student paper, and a federal court later found that the purpose of this policy was to chill pro-Palestinian speech and declared the policy unconstitutional; the appeal is pending.
- Ricketts Voted Against Barring Federal Officers at Protests From Hiding Their Identities in October 2025. On October 9, 2025, Ricketts voted no on Senator Jeff Merkley's amendment requiring federal officers doing crowd control to show their agency and identifier and providing that they may not tape over or otherwise obscure or conceal the identifying information. It failed 47-50. In an arrest a federal judge later ruled unlawful in Iowa, "No identification was made" by the ICE agents, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.
- Ricketts Voted Against Requiring a Governor's Consent Before Guard Troops Patrol a State in October 2025. On October 9, 2025, Ricketts voted against Senator Chris Van Hollen's amendment requiring the consent of the chief executive officer of a state for certain full-time National Guard duty there, and against Senator Tammy Duckworth's amendment limiting support by the armed forces to civilian law enforcement without notice to Congress. Both failed. National Guard troops have patrolled Washington, D.C. since August 2025, at a peak of about 5,000, the Associated Press reported.
- Ricketts Voted Against Body Cameras for Immigration Agents in June 2026. On June 5, 2026, Ricketts voted no on an amendment to buy body-worn cameras for immigration officers and make the footage available to the people filmed. It failed 46-53. Alex Pretti was fatally shot while filming an immigration operation in Minneapolis in January 2026.
What Federal Agents Under Officials Pete Ricketts Confirmed Did in Nebraska
- Masked agents in Omaha. At the Glenn Valley Foods raid in Omaha on June 10, 2025, a witness outside the plant saw uniformed ICE and DEA agents with their faces covered by masks, and a detained worker's niece said officers demanded signatures on a form, but the document wasn't translated into Spanish, so many didn't know what it said, the Flatwater Free Press reported. Ricketts voted against requiring federal officers to show their identification in October 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pete Ricketts on Civil liberties
What is Pete Ricketts's record on civil liberties under Trump?
Pete Ricketts voted against identification requirements, body cameras and a governor's-consent rule for federal forces, and voted to confirm the Homeland Security and Justice Department leaders who monitored protesters, searched a congresswoman's home and indicted the President's critics in cases that mostly failed. He also cast a deciding vote for Pete Hegseth, whose Pentagon restricted the press corps.
Did Pete Ricketts vote to require federal agents to show identification?
No. Pete Ricketts voted on October 9, 2025 against Senator Merkley's amendment requiring federal officers doing crowd control to display their agency and an identifier, which failed 47-50. The amendment would also have barred officers from taping over or concealing that information.
How did Pete Ricketts vote on limits to National Guard deployments in states?
Pete Ricketts voted against requiring a governor's consent before certain full-time National Guard duty in a state, which failed 47-50, and against limiting military support to civilian law enforcement without notice to Congress, which failed 46-52. Both votes came on October 9, 2025, two months after Guard troops began patrolling Washington.
Last updated: 2026-10-25