Members of Congress demand update from Homeland Security on Oath Keepers and militias in government

A letter from more than 60 Democratic members of Congress demands federal law enforcement provide an urgent update after reports found hundreds of current and former agents with connections to the Oath Keepers and other far-right extremist groups.

Sixty-five lawmakers have pressed US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to outline the steps the agency has taken in the wake of its own internal reviews to address the state of domestic violent extremism within the ranks of federal authorities.

“It is clear that the issue of extremists infiltrating federal law enforcement is a persistent and clear threat to the rule of law and national security, and urgent action is needed to root out domestic violent extremists from federal law enforcement agencies,” they wrote in a letter dated 17 July.

In 2021, Mr Mayorkas declared that domestic violent extremism is “the most lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat to our country today.”

“As we work to safeguard our nation, we must be vigilant in our efforts to identify and combat domestic violent extremism within both the broader community and our own organisation,” he said in a statement in April 2021 announcing the agency’s review of such extremists within federal law enforcement agencies.

“Hateful acts and violent extremism will not be tolerated within our department,” he added.

A subsequent report, released March 2022, revealed that DHS “has significant gaps that have impeded its ability to comprehensively prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats related to domestic violent extremism” within the sprawling agency.

Homeland Security – which encompasses the Transportation Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Secret Service – did not have any working definition or guidance for violent extremism, nor any workforce training to identify those those threats, and funding for its existing DHS Insider Threat Program was insufficient, according to the agency’s report.

That report followed a similar review from the Pentagon to study “prohibited extremist activities” and “extremist” behaviour within the US military.

Another report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee found that federal law enforcement is failing to effectively respond to domestic terrorism, largely fuelled by white supremacist and anti-government violence, despite a 2019 mandate to track and report data on the domestic terror threats.

More than 300 people who were previously or currently employed by DHS were discovered on a membership list for the Oath Keepers, according to a December report from the Project on Government Oversight and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

The report analysed a leaked membership list from the group, whose leader Stewart Rhodes and several members have been convicted of seditious conspiracy against the US.

Most of the people identified on the list denied their membership to the group or said their membership had lapsed, though analysts said even the appearance of connections to the group reflects “tip of the iceberg” of the relationships between far-right organisers and federal law enforcement.

The list, separately reviewed by the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, includes at least 81 people who are currently holding public office or are candidates in upcoming elections, from local leadership – including mayors and school board members – to state representatives and senators.

Membership lists also included more than 370 people currently working in law enforcement agencies and more than 100 active military members, according to the report.

The list was published by the Distributed Denial of Secrets, which reportedly obtained membership information for roughly 38,000 people. The ADL Center on Extremism analysed the list – which contained full names, addresses, phone numbers and email accounts – against names found in public databases and social media platforms.

“Violent extremist groups and leaders, such as white supremacists and anti-government extremists, have been explicit about their desire to recruit current and former law enforcement personnel,” the letter from congressional Democrats said.

The letter asks whether DHS uses public information, including social media, to identify or investigate extremist threats within the department, noting that the agency has “about 170,000 contractors” not on federal payrolls, and that “special consideration must be given to vetting this sizable population, which has direct authorized access to DHS assets” – including federal facilities and employees.

Lawmakers have also pressed Mr Mayorkas about relationships between US Customs and Border Protection agents and far-right militia groups along the US-Mexico border, noting that it is “important for CBP to assure they’re acting separately from any vigilante groups, who may be violent themselves.”

“That’s why there have to be strict guidelines relating to vigilante groups,” according to the letter.. That’s why we hope to get a response.”

Democratic US Rep Robert Garcia, whose district spans southern California, said in a statement that “far-right militia groups operating on our Southern border pose a significant threat to our national security.”

“Congress needs to know what steps are being taken to make sure that federal agents are not collaborating with violent extremists,” he added.