Latest news with #stateSovereignty
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘It's about people power.' Three Democratic state AG's talk about taking on Trump
Across the country, state attorneys general are taking on the Trump administration by challenging the president's attempts to expand his executive power in court. In a new episode of 'Can They Do That?' MSNBC Legal Correspondent Lisa Rubin sat down with three Democratic AG's who are leading the legal pushback to Donald Trump: Kwame Raoul of Illinois, Matthew Platkin of New Jersey and Keith Ellison of Minnesota. Rubin began the episode by noting that for many decades, states' rights were the 'rallying cry of the political right and the conservative legal movement.' She asked the AG's to explain why Americans of 'all political stripes' should care about state sovereignty, which, Rubin argued, 'is a concept that many people, particularly on the left, haven't thought a lot about in the space of thinking about threats to democracy.' 'I think it's fair to say that today, your rights and privileges as an American citizen vary based on what state you live in,' Platkin said. 'If you want to be free from gun violence, if you want to make sure you have access to reproductive health care, if you want your kids to get a quality public education — all of those are meaningfully different depending on whether you live in a state, frankly, with attorneys general like us or not.' Rubin asked which Trump policy the attorneys general believe poses the greatest threat to the rule of law and state sovereignty. 'The usurpation of the National Guard in California, to me, is the big, ugly threat to American democracy,' Ellison said. Raoul agreed with Ellison, noting that although Trump may be focused on California now, any state could be next: 'Illinois, we anticipate, will be targeted.' The Illinois attorney general told Rubin he expected that the administration might attempt to use the same tactics in Chicago as it did in Los Angeles, an idea he called 'outrageous,' considering that he thinks Chicago proved it could control large crowds without assistance from the federal government during last summer's Democratic National Convention. When Rubin asked Platkin if the president's actions had dragged the U.S. into a constitutional crisis, the New Jersey attorney general said it would 'be impossible' to say no. 'Given that we've had the president, the vice president, the attorney general and their representatives in court openly either defying or threatening to defy court orders, I think we are,' he explained. Ellison stressed that while he and his fellow attorneys general would continue to take on Trump in court, it was also important for everyday Americans to join in the fight. 'The American people are coming out more and more every day, more people who've never been to a protest march in their lives,' Ellison said. 'So I think, yes, we're going to keep on suing, but I also think it's important for us to continue to communicate with the public and give people hope that we can protect and defend and extend our democracy. And because it really is, at the end of the day, it's about people power.' Watch Rubin's full conversation with Raoul, Platkin and Ellison in the video below. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gavin Newsom Demands Trump Remove National Guard From LA Immigration Protests: ‘Breach of State Sovereignty'
Gov. Gavin Newsom has formally requested that Donald Trump recall the National Guard from Los Angeles and other areas where Californians are protesting the ongoing immigration raids, calling the federal deployment 'a serious breach of state sovereignty.' Newsom shared his official letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday afternoon in an Instagram post, saying, 'I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles County and return them to my command. We didn't have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed. Rescind the Order. Return order to California.' In a Saturday night memorandum, Trump ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to aid federal law enforcement officers battling growing unrest in downtown L.A. and surrounding areas. Newsom immediately condemned the order, suggesting it would only enflame tensions. Federal officials told reporters on Sunday that several law enforcement officers had been injured in the skirmishes. Read the entire text of Newsom's letter below: Dear Secretary Hegseth: On June 7, 2025, President Trump issued a memorandum to your office entitled 'Department of Defense Security for the Protection of Department of Homeland Security Functions.' The memorandum purports to invoke 10 U.S.C. § 12406 to 'call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard . . . to temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions, including the enforcement of Federal law, and to protect Federal property.' The memorandum further directs 'actions as necessary for the Secretary of Defense to coordinate with the Governors of the States and the National Guard Bureau in identifying and ordering into Federal service the appropriate members and units of the National Guard under this authority.' Section 12406 states that 'the President may call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary' to (1) repel an invasion of the United States by a foreign nation; (2) suppress a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States; or (3) execute the laws of the United States when the President is unable to do so with regular forces. Section 12406 further states that '[o]rders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States.' Last night, the Adjutant General of California received a memorandum from your office with the subject line 'Calling Members of the California National Guard into Federal Service,' which states that '[t]wo thousand members of the California National Guard will be called into Federal service effective immediately for a period of 60 days.' Notably, this directive did not issue 'through the governor[] of the State[]' as required by section 12406; the Department of Defense did not transmit this directive to the Office of the Governor, nor was it approved or ordered by the Governor of California. This directive is also inconsistent with the President's memorandum, which anticipates 'coordinat[ion] with the Governors of the States' in identifying and ordering units of the National Guard into federal service. At present, law enforcement authorities from the City and County of Los Angeles are safeguarding public safety, and, as demonstrated by the robust law enforcement response yesterday evening to protect federal facilities, local law enforcement resources are sufficient to maintain order. In dynamic and fluid situations such as the one in Los Angeles, State and local authorities are the most appropriate ones to evaluate the need for resources to safeguard life and property. Indeed, the decision to deploy the National Guard, without appropriate training or orders, risks seriously escalating the situation. There is currently no need for the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles, and to do so in this unlawful manner and for such a lengthy period is a serious breach of state sovereignty that seems intentionally designed to inflame the situation, while simultaneously depriving the State from deploying these personnel and resources where they are truly required. Accordingly, we ask that you immediately rescind your order and return the National Guard to its rightful control by the State of California, to be deployed as appropriate when necessary. Sincerely, David SappLegal Affairs SecretaryOffice of Governor Gavin Newsom The post Gavin Newsom Demands Trump Remove National Guard From LA Immigration Protests: 'Breach of State Sovereignty' appeared first on TheWrap.
