Latest news with #InsurrectionActof1807
DW
4 hours ago
- Politics
- DW
US: Donald Trump makes broad use of presidential powers – DW – 06/11/2025
President Donald Trump has deployed the military against protesters in Los Angeles and ignored federal court orders — moves that have prompted concern about the condition of democratic institutions in the United States. Tensions remain high in Los Angeles, California, where thousands of people have been protesting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. A curfew imposed by the city's mayor on Tuesday night brought some calm, but there are no signs of de-escalation. After deploying the National Guard, US President Donald Trump has now ordered the deployment of some 700 Marines — active-duty troops known for their rapid response and elite combat capabilities. According to a spokeswoman for the United States Northern Command, US troops will help protect federal buildings and personnel, including ICE agents. Since Friday, demonstrators have occupied the streets in Los Angeles, protesting ICE raids targeting individuals lacking proper immigration documentation. In some cases, masked ICE agents reportedly arrested people on the street. The crackdown reflects the Trump administration's hardline stance on immigration — and now the military has been called in by the president to assist. Presidential powers and the Insurrection Act Normally, the president cannot unilaterally deploy the National Guard within a US state; governors must authorize such deployments. California Governor Gavin Newsom has expressly rejected the need for the National Guard and has sued the Trump administration. Downtown LA under curfew after days of protests To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video However, under the Insurrection Act of 1807, the president has the authority to deploy military forces without the governor's consent in cases of rebellion or civil unrest. Trump's decision to invoke that authority is considered highly unusual, given the importance placed on states' rights in the US federal system. Governor Newsom has accused Trump of abusing executive power and warned that his actions threaten democratic norms. "California may be first, but it clearly won't end here," Newsom said, "Other states are next. Democracy is next." Trump sidelining the judicial branch Trump has repeatedly clashed with the US judicial system during his first five months back in office. Early in his term, he authorized deportations that went forward despite federal court orders blocking them. Since March, more than 250 non-US citizens — whom Trump has labeled as terrorists — have been deported to El Salvador. Flights to El Salvador's infamous CECOT maximum-security prison reportedly continued even after a federal judge ordered them grounded. To justify the deportations, the Trump administration cited the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, arguing it allows for the removal of nationals from "hostile nations," without affording them a right to trial. The Trump administration claims those deported were affiliated with the transnational criminal group Tren de Argua. In the US system, the judiciary is one of three co-equal branches of government, alongside the executive and legislative branches. The balance among them is foundational to US democracy — critics say Trump is eroding that balance. Six of the nation's nine Supreme Court justices are conservatives, three were appointed by Trump. Will the 'principles of democracy' win out in the US? What about the legislative branch? Trump has largely bypassed Congress since returning to office in January, issuing 161 executive orders as of June 10 — more than any president in a similar time frame since World War II. His orders, which do not require House of Representatives or Senate approval, have had sweeping effects, from LGBTQ+ rights to trade policy. "Trump will definitely go down in history as the one who took executive power to its limits," wrote Patrick Malone, a professor of public administration and policy at American University in an email to DW. Malone questioned the legality of the president's mass firing of federal employees in the name of efficiency, for instance. "The question of legality of what this president has done are going to be in the courts for years to come," Malone said. He warned that the US democratic institutions are under serious pressure. One underlying issue, he said, is that many US laws were written for a nation vastly different from the one that exists today. But Malone is optimistic: "Institutions are generally quite difficult to topple. Hopefully, the principles of democracy will ultimately prevail." This article was published in German and translated by Jon Shelton.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP backs Trump on LA, but there's skepticism over deploying Marines
Republican senators support President Trump's crackdown on people protesting his administration's work to deport thousands of migrants, but they are uncertain about the Pentagon's deployment of 700 active-duty Marines to California. The Trump White House appears confident that a showdown with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over illegal immigration is good politics for the president. But some GOP lawmakers are worried about the prospect of street clashes spreading to other cities and of Trump invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to get the active-duty military more involved in responding to mass protests. There's no GOP opposition to a tough response to street protests. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is up for reelection next year in a state Trump lost to Biden, said 'the violence that we're witnessing against law enforcement, ICE officers in L.A.' and the property damage is 'completely unacceptable and does call for a strong response. But she warned that 'sending in active-duty troops to deal with domestic law enforcement issues raises very serious concerns.' 'I do not agree with the president's decision to do that,' she said, before pivoting to support for Trump's decision to call in the National Guard without the consent of local officials. 'I think calling up the National Guard, which has experience in dealing with domestic disasters, whether man-made or weather-related, does make sense,' Collins said. 'But I do not think that sending in active-duty Marines is a good idea. 'I think it puts them in a very difficult position,' she added. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said he hopes 'cooler heads prevail' on both sides of the political spectrum as the administration continues operations to deport migrants. Rounds said he doesn't want to see street clashes and property destruction play out in other cities. 'Hopefully it does not occur and hopefully cooler heads prevail all the way around,' he said. 'The challenge … is you've got individuals that are creating a scene when [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is coming in and doing their job.' Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Armed Services panel, declined to comment on the deployment of Marines. A poll of 4,309 U.S. adults by YouGov found that only 34 percent of Americans approved of Trump deploying Marines to Los Angeles, while 47 percent disapproved. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Tuesday defended Trump's decision to deploy 4,000 members of the California National Guard to help maintain the peace in Los Angeles, but he distanced himself from the decision to mobilize active-duty Marines, telling reporters he didn't know Trump's precise authority for doing so. 'I don't know the particulars on what authorities exist there, but my assumption is that the administration has been looking carefully at what he can and can't do under the law. Obviously, the 1798 Act is available to them if they choose to exercise it,' Thune told reporters. That's a reference to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which authorizes the president during a declared war, invasion or predatory incursion to detain and deport citizens of an enemy nation. Thune argued Trump was justified in mobilizing the National Guard because local authorities failed to contain property destruction and the threat of violence. 'In this case, at least there were clear just failures on the part of state and local officials, which is why I think it required the president to take a federal response,' he said. 'There was a security situation out there that needed to be addressed, and I think ultimately, the president's objective is to keep people safe,' he said. Newsom accused Trump of 'intentionally causing chaos' by mobilizing troops, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) said the move was 'completely unnecessary' because the Los Angeles Police Department was 'well equipped' to handle protests.' Trump's deployment of active-duty troops is raising questions on Capitol Hill about whether he will invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807. The president cited the law in January as potential authority to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, if necessary. White House aides drafted a proclamation during Trump's first term in 2020 to invoke the Insurrection Act in case Trump wanted to deploy active-duty troops to Washington, D.C., to respond to protests over the murder of George Floyd earlier that year. The president decided not to, despite calls by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who wrote in a New York Times op-ed to 'send in the troops.' Gen. Eric Smith, the commandant of the Marine Corps, told Republican senators Tuesday morning that the 700 Marines Trump deployed would be limited to guarding federal properties and had training in crowd control. He said active-duty soldiers would not have arrest authority. Rounds told The Hill that Smith informed members of the Armed Services panel that Trump was operating under Title 10 of the United States Code, which includes the statutes often referred to as the Insurrection Act, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. 'They are there just as if they were on any other sovereign mission at an embassy anyplace else around the world. They have been trained in crowd control, but their mission is to protect other entities that are federal in nature, meaning buildings or other members of the military,' Rounds said. He said the National Guard troops — in contrast to the Marines — 'are federally activated' and 'members of the armed services under Title 10 rather than Title 32,' referring to the transfer of the California National Guard from Newsom to Trump. 'That was not part of the discussion,' he said of the Insurrection Act. 'I know it's available to him,' referring to Trump, 'but right now it's not necessary.' Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) claimed that the Democratic officials in California and Los Angeles 'seem not to be very concerned with controlling the violence' and 'in some ways are defiant of federal law' by refusing to work with federal officials to deport migrants who are living in the country illegally. He said 'my preference would be to have local, not national' law enforcement and troops handle local protests but warned that waiting too long to send in the National Guard could allow protests to spiral out of control, like they did in some cities during summer 2020 after Floyd's murder. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
GOP backs Trump on LA, but there's skepticism over deploying Marines
Republican senators support President Trump's crackdown on people protesting his administration's work to deport thousands of migrants, but they are uncertain about the Pentagon's deployment of 700 active-duty Marines to California. The Trump White House appears confident that a showdown with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over illegal immigration is good politics for the president. But some GOP lawmakers are worried about the prospect of street clashes spreading to other cities and of Trump invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 to get the active-duty military more involved in responding to mass protests. There's no GOP opposition to a tough response to street protests. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is up for reelection next year in a state Trump lost to Biden, said 'the violence that we're witnessing against law enforcement, ICE officers in L.A.' and the property damage is 'completely unacceptable and does call for a strong response. But she warned that 'sending in active-duty troops to deal with domestic law enforcement issues raises very serious concerns.' 'I do not agree with the president's decision to do that,' she said, before pivoting to support for Trump's decision to call in the National Guard without the consent of local officials. 'I think calling up the National Guard, which has experience in dealing with domestic disasters, whether man-made or weather-related, does make sense,' Collins said. 'But I do not think that sending in active-duty Marines is a good idea. 'I think it puts them in a very difficult position,' she added. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said he hopes 'cooler heads prevail' on both sides of the political spectrum as the administration continues operations to deport migrants. Rounds said he doesn't want to see street clashes and property destruction play out in other cities. 'Hopefully it does not occur and hopefully cooler heads prevail all the way around,' he said. 'The challenge … is you've got individuals that are creating a scene when [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is coming in and doing their job.' Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Armed Services panel, declined to comment on the deployment of Marines. A poll of 4,309 U.S. adults by YouGov found that only 34 percent of Americans approved of Trump deploying Marines to Los Angeles, while 47 percent disapproved. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Tuesday defended Trump's decision to deploy 4,000 members of the California National Guard to help maintain the peace in Los Angeles, but he distanced himself from the decision to mobilize active-duty Marines, telling reporters he didn't know Trump's precise authority for doing so. 'I don't know the particulars on what authorities exist there, but my assumption is that the administration has been looking carefully at what he can and can't do under the law. Obviously, the 1798 Act is available to them if they choose to exercise it,' Thune told reporters. That's a reference to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which authorizes the president during a declared war, invasion or predatory incursion to detain and deport citizens of an enemy nation. Thune argued Trump was justified in mobilizing the National Guard because local authorities failed to contain property destruction and the threat of violence. 'In this case, at least there were clear just failures on the part of state and local officials, which is why I think it required the president to take a federal response,' he said. 'There was a security situation out there that needed to be addressed, and I think ultimately, the president's objective is to keep people safe,' he said. Newsom accused Trump of 'intentionally causing chaos' by mobilizing troops, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) said the move was 'completely unnecessary' because the Los Angeles Police Department was 'well equipped' to handle protests.' Trump's deployment of active-duty troops is raising questions on Capitol Hill about whether he will invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807. The president cited the law in January as potential authority to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, if necessary. White House aides drafted a proclamation during Trump's first term in 2020 to invoke the Insurrection Act in case Trump wanted to deploy active-duty troops to Washington, D.C., to respond to protests over the murder of George Floyd earlier that year. The president decided not to, despite calls by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who wrote in a New York Times op-ed to 'send in the troops.' Gen. Eric Smith, the commandant of the Marine Corps, told Republican senators Tuesday morning that the 700 Marines Trump deployed would be limited to guarding federal properties and had training in crowd control. He said active-duty soldiers would not have arrest authority. Rounds told The Hill that Smith informed members of the Armed Services panel that Trump was operating under Title 10 of the United States Code, which includes the statutes often referred to as the Insurrection Act, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. 'They are there just as if they were on any other sovereign mission at an embassy anyplace else around the world. They have been trained in crowd control, but their mission is to protect other entities that are federal in nature, meaning buildings or other members of the military,' Rounds said. He said the National Guard troops — in contrast to the Marines — 'are federally activated' and 'members of the armed services under Title 10 rather than Title 32,' referring to the transfer of the California National Guard from Newsom to Trump. 'That was not part of the discussion,' he said of the Insurrection Act. 'I know it's available to him,' referring to Trump, 'but right now it's not necessary.' Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) claimed that the Democratic officials in California and Los Angeles 'seem not to be very concerned with controlling the violence' and 'in some ways are defiant of federal law' by refusing to work with federal officials to deport migrants who are living in the country illegally. He said 'my preference would be to have local, not national' law enforcement and troops handle local protests but warned that waiting too long to send in the National Guard could allow protests to spiral out of control, like they did in some cities during summer 2020 after Floyd's murder.
Axios
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Axios
Trump's Strongman Week: Inside his show of military force
Troops deployed to Los Angeles. Paratroopers dropping from the sky before a partisan speech to troops at Fort Bragg. A military parade in D.C. that will coincide with the president's birthday. Call it President Trump 's Strongman Week. Trump is making a point of showing executive force at a level he only dreamed about during his first term. Why it matters: Trump's swift militarized response Saturday to the Los Angeles protests marks a defining moment in his presidency, as he uses his military authority to juice his immigration crackdown and hammer Democrats — all with a mix of pomp and threats. Zoom in: In a sign he's moving closer to escalating military action by declaring protests such as L.A.'s as insurrections, Trump said Tuesday that he'll send troops to any city he deems at risk of riots or possibly even protests he doesn't like — including Saturday's military parade in D.C. "I can inform the rest of the country that when they do it — if they do it — they're going to be met with equal or greater force," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office regarding the possibility of protests this weekend in D.C. Trump's executive order last weekend authorizing the National Guard deployment doesn't specify it's only for Los Angeles. It could apply anywhere. Later Tuesday, during a speech to troops at Fort Bragg, N.C., Trump blasted former President Biden and California's Democratic leadership while calling the L.A. protests against his immigration raids "anarchy." Earlier, he'd called some of the protesters "insurrectionists." Such claims — which have been aggressively disputed by California officials — suggest Trump is seeking to justify using the Insurrection Act of 1807, which allows the deployment of U.S. troops to quell domestic unrest and is among the most extreme emergency powers available to a president. Already, he's ordered 4,000 National Guard troops to L.A. over the objection of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). On Tuesday, hundreds of Marines were arriving as well — a move Newsom and other state and local officials called unnecessary and an abuse of power. "Donald Trump is behaving like a tyrant, not a president," Newsom posted on X Tuesday. "By turning the military against American citizens, he is threatening the very core of our democracy." The backstory: Trump's actions in many ways reflect his regret at not sending in the National Guard sooner in 2020, during his first administration's response to the unrest that followed George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police. Trump's advisers at the time talked him out of it. Trump also wanted to have a military parade in 2020, but dropped the idea after advisers cautioned it would look too authoritarian and could cause costly damage by tanks rolling along D.C. streets. Marc Short, then-Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, recalled that Trump had been eager to hold a military parade since French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Trump at a Bastille Day parade in Paris in 2017. A senior Trump 2020 campaign official said using the military during the Floyd protests would have been risky, given the sensitive racial issues at the center of the demonstrations. The big picture: Now, in his second term, Trump isn't expressing such concerns. He has different advisers who are more in line with his desires. But one constant remains: Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's aggressive immigration policies. He has aggressively called for using the National Guard to crack down on any protesters who try to block federal agents from arresting unauthorized immigrants. "Stephen has been clear in all the meetings: More military, faster," said a Trump adviser familiar with the discussions. Bolstering Miller: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whom the adviser described as "practically bloodthirsty" in her support for more and tougher immigration enforcement. A DHS spokesperson pushed back on that characterization and said Noem is "antithetical to bloodthirsty — she is trying to prevent bloodshed." This weekend, Trump will get his military parade — a $45 million effort celebrating the Army's 250th birthday that happens to fall on Trump's 79th birthday and Flag Day. Army officials plan to display rocket launchers and missiles along with more than 100 aircraft and tanks, according to people familiar with the planning. Trump on Tuesday had a warning for any protesters — and didn't distinguish between troublemakers and peaceful citizens expressing their speech rights. "I haven't even heard about a protest," he said, "but you know, this is people that hate our country .... They will be met with very heavy force." The intrigue: White House insiders say Trump's response to the L.A. protests appears to have energized him after a week in which his "First Buddy," Elon Musk, brutally criticized him during their falling out over Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" in Congress. "The president was actually hurt" by the Musk episode, according to a confidant who spoke with Trump about it. "Yes, he has feelings, and he was hurt the way anyone would be when a friend turns on them." "But that's gone now. L.A. wiped away the Elon drama," the source said. "What's driving the president is how the riots of 2020 are seared into his brain, and how he wished he could've sent in the troops to end it."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tom Cotton trolls NY Times with another op-ed calling for troops to quell LA riots
Sen. Tom Cotton implored President Donald Trump to "Send In the Troops, for Real" in a Wall Street Journal essay on Tuesday that called back to his infamous 2020 New York Times op-ed. The Arkansas Republican wrote in support of Trump's deployment of National Guard and Marine soldiers to Los Angeles over the weekend after anti-ICE riots escalated beyond local police control. His comments echoed similar arguments he made in the wake of Black Lives Matter riots plaguing major cities in the summer of 2020. "At the risk of again sending liberals to their fainting couches, it may indeed be time to send in the troops," Cotton wrote. Ny Times Accused Of 'Stealth Editing' Report After Claiming Cotton Pushed 'Military Force Against Protesters' Unlike 2020, Cotton acknowledged Trump was taking steps to provide additional support for law enforcement, though stopping short of invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807. He argued that despite concerns from Democrats, Trump has the legal authority to invoke the Insurrection Act should it be necessary. Cotton wrote that he was also planning on introducing new legislation that would "stiffen penalties for rioters who attack law enforcement" and "make riot-related crimes a deportable offense." Read On The Fox News App He added the current Republican budget bill provides additional funding for immigration authorities to deport criminal illegal immigrants. "These ideas are basic common sense, but as was the case five years ago, the Democrats haven't learned. It isn't 'inflammatory,' as [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom claimed, to enforce federal law, stand with law enforcement and protect civilians. It's necessary to keep the peace." Cotton wrote. New Book Details 'Bloodthirsty' New York Times Staffers Over Tom Cotton Op-ed: 'I Was So F---ing Freaked Out' In 2020, Cotton penned the now-infamous op-ed in The New York Times titled "Send in the Troops," advocating for an "overwhelming show of force" to quell the unrest following George Floyd's death. The piece sparked fierce backlash not just by liberals on Twitter but by New York Times employees, many of them claiming Cotton's piece "puts Black @NYT staff in danger." The Times initially stood by the piece, citing free speech and diverse viewpoints, but quickly reversed course, claiming the essay "fell short of our standards and should not have been published." Former Times editor James Bennet was forced to resign after the internal uproar. After its mea culpa, the New York Times faced additional backlash from conservatives who pointed out that it had carried op-eds from controversial figures such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Erdogan and even the leader of the Taliban. Fox News Digital reached out to the New York Times for a article source: Tom Cotton trolls NY Times with another op-ed calling for troops to quell LA riots
