Category: Military

by Zach Schonfeld / The Hill / September 2, 2025

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that National Guard troops ran afoul of the law in Los Angeles when President Trump deployed them in June after immigration protests that turned violent.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled their actions violated an 1878 law that generally bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement.

“This was intentional—Defendants instigated a months-long deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles for the purpose of establishing a military presence there and enforcing federal law. Such conduct is a serious violation of the Posse Comitatus Act,” Breyer wrote.

Though most of the troops are no longer deployed in the city, the judge’s order blocks any remaining ones from making arrests and searches or conducting traffic patrols and riot control until the government meets a valid legal exception.

Breyer paused his order until next Friday, providing the administration with an avenue to appeal before it goes into effect.

By Jackie Calmes / Los Angeles Times / Aug. 28, 2025

“I am not a crook,” President Nixon said in 1973.

“I’m not a dictator,” President Trump insisted on Monday.

And with that, another famously false presidential proclamation entered the annals of memorable statements no president should ever feel compelled to make.

[Please go to original for links]

It took months more for Nixon’s crimes to force him to resign in 1974 ahead of his all-but-certain removal by Congress. But a half-century later, Trump is unabashedly showing every day that he really does aspire to be a dictator. Unlike Nixon, he doesn’t have to fear a supposedly coequal Congress: It’s run by slavish fellow Republicans who’ve forfeited their constitutional powers over spending, tariffs, appointments and more. Lower courts have checked Trump’s lawlessness, but a too-deferential Supreme Court gets the last word and empowers him more than not.

Americans are indeed in proverbial uncharted waters. Four months ago, conservative columnist David Brooks of the New York Times wrote — uncharacteristically for a self-described “mild” guy — “It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising.” It’s now past time.

Reader Supported News / Aug. 27, 2025

“The article below is satire. Andy Borowitz is an American comedian and New York Times-bestselling author who satirizes the news for his column, ‘The Borowitz Report’.”

Complicating Donald J. Trump’s plan to send troops to Chicago, on Tuesday thousands of National Guard members called in sick with bone spurs.

The White House was plunged into chaos after receiving over seven thousand notes from guardsmen’s podiatrists, sources said.

By Alex Horton and David Ovalle / Washington Post / August 12, 2025

The Trump administration is evaluating plans that would establish a “Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force” composed of hundreds of National Guard troops tasked with rapidly deploying into American cities facing protests or other unrest, according to internal Pentagon documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

The plan calls for 600 troops to be on standby at all times so they can deploy in as little as one hour, the documents say. They would be split into two groups of 300 and be stationed at military bases in Alabama and Arizona, with purview of regions east and west of the Mississippi River, respectively.

Cost projections outlined in the documents indicate that such a mission, if the proposal is adopted, could stretch into the hundreds of millions of dollars should military aircraft and aircrews also be required to be ready around-the-clock. Troop transport via commercial airlines would be less expensive, the documents say.

The proposal, which has not been previously reported, represents another potential expansion of President Donald Trump’s willingness to employ the armed forces on American soil. It relies on a section of the U.S. Code that allows the commander in chief to circumvent limitations on the military’s use within the United States.
Follow Trump’s second term

The documents, marked “predecisional,” are comprehensive and contain extensive discussion about the potential societal implications of establishing such a program. They were compiled by National Guard officials and bear time stamps as recent as late July and early August. Fiscal 2027 is the earliest this program could be created and funded through the Pentagon’s traditional budgetary process, the documents say, leaving unclear whether the initiative could begin sooner through an alternative funding source.

By Andrew Solender / Axios / July 7, 2025

At town halls in their districts and in one-on-one meetings with constituents and activists, Democratic members of Congress are facing a growing thrum of demands to break the rules, fight dirty — and not be afraid to get hurt.

Why it matters: House Democrats told Axios they see a growing anger among their base that has, in some cases, morphed into a disregard for American institutions, political traditions and even the rule of law.

“This idea that we’re going to save every norm and that we’re not going to play [Republicans’] game … I don’t think that’s resonating with voters anymore,” said one House Democrat.

Another told Axios that a “sense of fear and despair and anger” among voters “puts us in a different position where … we can’t keep following norms of decorum.”
Axios spoke to more than two dozen House Democrats for this story, with many requesting anonymity to offer candid insights about their interactions with constituents and activists.

Here are a few articles about ICE in San Diego.

ICE increasingly arresting San Diegans with no criminal record, data shows

Starting in May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials dramatically ramped up arrests in the San Diego area and increasingly targeted immigrants without existing criminal histories, according to an inewsource analysis of arrest data.

ICE raids in San Diego foreshadowed the roundups, protests now spreading across California

Days before President Donald Trump unleashed federal immigration agents to raid sites spanning from California’s biggest cities to its agricultural heartland, sparking protests in L.A. and elsewhere, San Diego’s quaint South Park neighborhood was targeted. Two popular Italian restaurants were swarmed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on May 30, prompting a remarkable response from neighbors who rallied to the scene and forced a retreat under shouts of “shame.”

2 San Diego Women Charged with Assaulting ICE Agents

Two San Diego women have been charged with assaulting ICE agents during a July 2 immigration raid at a Linda Vista apartment complex.
According to the federal complaints, obtained by CBS 8, 46-year-old Trina Rupley and 55-year-old Jeane Wong were each charged with one felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers.

A was is raging within America — between the people and immigrants versus ICE and its enablers. Here is a collection of recent articles about ICE:

ICE Budget Makes It Larger than Most of World’s Militaries — and Largest Law Enforcement Agency in U.S.

The House and Senate have now passed a bill making Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the United States’ largest interior law enforcement agency, with funding for Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda higher than most of the world’s militaries, including Israel’s.Trump’s bill means a massive increase in ICE funding as part of an immigration enforcement agenda worth $150 billion over four years.

Will ICE Be Building Labor Camps in America?

One aspect of the Republicans’ big, ugly bill that didn’t get enough attention until Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez elevated it over the last few days is the massive amounts of money it directs to the apprehension and detention of immigrants. On Thursday, right after the bill passed the House, AOC posted on Bluesky:

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion – making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined. It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

From Fox11 Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – A sudden federal enforcement action in MacArthur Park ended without a single arrest — but not without impact. Armored vehicles, mounted officers, and heavily armed agents arrived in the middle of the day, disrupting the normal life of one of Los Angeles’ most diverse public spaces. What followed was a moment of visible leadership, as Mayor Karen Bass confronted the operation in person and called for it to end — a demand federal agents appeared to honor shortly after.

On July 7, a large contingent of federal agents, armored trucks, and mounted officers arrived at MacArthur Park in what appeared to be an ICE enforcement sweep. SkyFOX was overhead during the operation and did not observe anyone taken into custody. FOX 11 has confirmed that no arrests were made.

Midway through the activity, Mayor Karen Bass arrived on scene and questioned the agents directly. A conversation with a representative identified on the scene as the “Head of Customs” led to a phone call in which Bass asked, “So they’ve stopped that? They’ve completed their mission here? What’s the timeframe before they leave?”

Soon after, the agents began pulling out. The show of force quickly dissipated, with federal vehicles departing the area and no visible enforcement action taken.

‘This is unacceptable’

Mayor Bass made her position clear in a statement to FOX 11: “They need to leave — and they need to leave right now. This is unacceptable.”

With approval ratings underwater, why not follow Bush’s advice and launch a “little war”? What could possibly go wrong?

By Thom Hartmann / Common Dreams / Jun 23, 2025

In the modern era, it was probably George W. Bush who first said it out loud and then acted on it: When you’re unpopular and losing politically, just start a little war that’s easily winnable and you’ll be back on top.

As he told his biographer, Mickey Herskowitz, in 1999 about his plans for an Iraq war as a strategy to get himself reelected in 2004:

One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of (Kuwait), and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade Iraq, if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed I want to get passed, and I’m going to have a successful presidency.

It worked for Bush, although history hasn’t been kind to him as a result. Donald Trump’s second presidency, meanwhile, has been an unmitigated disaster, both in real terms and politically as his approval ratings have slipped so far underwater they’re in late-years Richard Nixon territory:

• Inflation is up, and the tariffs aren’t bringing jobs home.
• Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires bill is in trouble.
• The GOP war on our schools and libraries is creating a huge backlash.

By Washington Post staff / June 18, 2025 

What do Americans think about the possibility of launching U.S. airstrikes against Iran, which President Donald Trump threatened this week unless the country dismantles its nuclear program? The Washington Post texted more than 1,000 people on Wednesday to ask.

The poll finds Americans opposing U.S. airstrikes against Iran by a 20 percentage-point margin — 45 percent to 25 percent — with a sizable 30 percent saying they are unsure.

Two-thirds of Democrats oppose airstrikes against Iran but Republicans are not as united, with 47 percent supporting strikes while 24 percent oppose them and 29 percent have no opinion. Independents lean against the strikes by about a 2-to-1 margin, with more than one-third unsure.

It is official, according to the San Diego Police Department and the Union-Tribune: 60,000 plus people demonstrated in downtown San Diego Saturday, June 14, for “No Kings Day!” Times of San Diego and KPBS also repeated this number. Organizers claimed 80,000. Also, police reported there were no arrests.

Meanwhile, literally millions of Americans took to the streets in opposition to Trump and his policies in at least 2,000 actions.

There were also 10 other “No Kings Day” protests across San Diego County, including events in Carlsbad, Del Mar, Chula Vista, Escondido, El Cajon, Mira Mesa, Rancho Bernardo, Civita Park, Ramona and San Marcos. Times of San Diego reported “about 1,000” in Mira Mesa and organizers estimated 3,000 in Escondido.

By Michael Wilner and Queenie Wong / Los Angeles Times / June 12, 2025 Updated 6:19 PM PT

A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to “return control” of the California National Guard to Gov. Gavin Newsom after the president issued an extraordinary order deploying them to Los Angeles over the weekend.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, presiding over the case, granted California’s request for a temporary restraining order, granting the federal government a stay until Friday to appeal the ruling.

Breyer had expressed skepticism at a hearing Thursday over the matter, questioning whether President Trump had operated within his authority.

“We’re talking about the president exercising his authority, and of course, the president is limited in his authority,” Breyer said. “That’s the difference between the president and King George.”

“We live in response to a monarchy,” the judge continued, adding: “Line drawing is important, because it establishes a system of process.”