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Category: Politics

No, Trump doesn’t have the legal authority to deploy troops to wherever he wants

No, Trump doesn’t have the legal authority to deploy troops to wherever he wants

Stephen I. Vladeck writes: President Trump’s escalating efforts to deploy armed troops onto the streets of several American cities run by Democratic officials are raising a question courts have been all but completely able to avoid since the Constitution was drafted: Can presidents unleash the armed forces on their own people based on facts that they contrive? The text of the relevant statutes doesn’t answer that question. But our constitutional ideals, to say nothing of common sense, should — and…

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Federal agents taunted Chicago woman to ‘do something, b—-’ before shooting her, attorney claims

Federal agents taunted Chicago woman to ‘do something, b—-’ before shooting her, attorney claims

Chicago Sun-Times reports: Body-camera video of a Border Patrol agent involved in the shooting of a woman who was allegedly chasing agents in Brighton Park over the weekend shows an officer saying, “Do something, b—-,” before pulling over and shooting the woman five times, the woman’s attorney said in federal court Monday. The video appears to contradict the government’s allegation that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire on her late Saturday morning on Kedzie…

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OMB tries to evade law that Trump signed guaranteeing backpay to furloughed feds

OMB tries to evade law that Trump signed guaranteeing backpay to furloughed feds

Government Executive reports: The Office of Management and Budget on Friday quietly revised a shutdown guidance document to remove references to a law passed in 2019 to guarantee that all federal workers are provided backpay at the conclusion of a lapse in appropriations. Prior to Oct. 3, OMB’s Frequently Asked Questions During a Lapse in Appropriations document highlighted the Government Employees Fair Treatment Act, the law enacted in 2019 as part of the deal to end the 35-day partial government…

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Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time

Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time

The Guardian reports: The world’s wind and solar farms have generated more electricity than coal plants for the first time this year, marking a turning point for the global power system, according to research. A report by the climate thinktank Ember found that in the first six months of 2025, renewable energy outpaced the world’s growing appetite for electricity, leading to a small decline in coal and gas use. The world generated almost a third more solar power in the…

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Trump’s plan to invoke the Insurrection Act

Trump’s plan to invoke the Insurrection Act

Robert Reich writes: The direction we’re going is either martial law or civil war. Americans from so-called “red” states, with the backing of their Republican governors and legislatures, are on the brink of using lethal force against Americans in so-called “blue” states, whose Democratic governors and legislatures strongly oppose the moves. I pray we don’t come close to this but Trump has now ordered the deployment of 400 members of the Texas National Guard to several states, including Oregon and…

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Donald Trump is destroying the Constitution

Donald Trump is destroying the Constitution

Chris Edelson writes: Donald Trump has effectively declared war on U.S. cities that he perceives as enemy territory, expanding the military offensive he started this summer in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Last week, he ordered federal troops to Portland, Oregon, instructing them to use “full force” if necessary in order to respond to what he falsely described as a “war ravaged” city. After threatening to send the Texas National Guard to Chicago for over a month, the first wave of troops is set to deploy this week. Trump has also…

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It’s time for California’s soft secession

It’s time for California’s soft secession

Clara Jeffery writes: California, and the country, cannot await the outcome of the midterms to repel Trump’s siege on democracy. More drastic action is required. Unfortunately, especially as Trump berates generals and admirals on “the enemy within” and suggests they use US cities as “training grounds,” it’s all too easy to imagine a world where the commanders of California’s military bases are compelled to choose sides. (If you think such scenarios are out of the realm of possibility, ask yourself…

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Trump officials can’t keep their mouths shut about DOJ’s biggest prosecutions — putting cases in jeopardy

Trump officials can’t keep their mouths shut about DOJ’s biggest prosecutions — putting cases in jeopardy

Politico reports: President Donald Trump is deploying the Justice Department to punish and prosecute his perceived enemies and advance his political agenda. But his color commentary — and that of senior members of his administration — about the cases is threatening to derail them in court. Public comments by Trump and high-ranking officials including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have already become flashpoints in high-profile cases. Judges overseeing criminal proceedings against Luigi Mangione, charged with…

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The Israeli right’s ‘time of miracles’ is over. The Palestinians are going nowhere

The Israeli right’s ‘time of miracles’ is over. The Palestinians are going nowhere

Meron Rapoport writes: We should know better than to take any so-called peace proposal presented by U.S. President Donald Trump along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at face value. But as the world awaits Hamas’ response to Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the war in Gaza, published in conjunction with the pair’s White House press conference on Monday, it is possible to begin drawing some early conclusions about what this all means for Israel and the Palestinians. Before any…

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Pope Leo urges Christians in the West to offer migrants ‘hospitality and welcome, compassion and solidarity’

Pope Leo urges Christians in the West to offer migrants ‘hospitality and welcome, compassion and solidarity’

Reuters reports: Pope Leo urged the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on Sunday to care for immigrants, pressing ahead with a message of welcome for migrants days after criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump’s hard-line anti-immigration policies. Leo, the first U.S. pope, told thousands of pilgrims celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square that immigrants should not be treated with “the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination”. The pope, who did not single out any country for its treatment of migrants,…

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How Chief Justice Roberts and his accomplices rewrote the Constitution and took away our rights

How Chief Justice Roberts and his accomplices rewrote the Constitution and took away our rights

Lisa Graves writes: John Roberts ascended to the Supreme Court and for nearly two decades maintained a reputation as a fair referee. But most people really have no idea who Roberts is, what a destructive force he is to American jurisprudence, and how he has helped fracture our political system and our society. In 2002, as part of my work for the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, one of my first tasks was to evaluate Roberts, whom George W. Bush had nominated…

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Inside Stephen Miller’s war on political dissent

Inside Stephen Miller’s war on political dissent

Rolling Stone reports: They didn’t waste a day. In the aftermath of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Donald Trump’s government immediately got to work crafting its road map for cracking down on liberal groups and the president’s domestic foes. According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, within 24 hours of the Kirk shooting, top Trump officials and administration lawyers — at the White House, Justice Department, and so forth — had already put pen to pad, drafting legal…

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Federal thugs assault 84-year old couple during Portland protest

Federal thugs assault 84-year old couple during Portland protest

The Oregonian reports: An elderly couple says they were charged and knocked down by federal agents as they peacefully protested on Saturday in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, just blocks from their home. Laurie Eckman, 84, said she and her husband Richard Eckman, also 84 and a Vietnam war veteran, were rushed by federal officers “for no apparent reason.” She said her husband was leaning on his walker and wearing his Vietnam veterans…

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Portland Police are recognized nationally and internationally as leaders in public order management

Portland Police are recognized nationally and internationally as leaders in public order management

Portland Police Chief Bob Day writes: Five years ago, some city and state leadership left the police bureau isolated. Today, that has changed. The bureau is part of a united statewide effort, backed by strong leadership from the mayor, city council, city administrator, governor, our congressional delegation and fellow Portlanders. Yet there is no ignoring that we are facing an extraordinary time in our city’s history, with the deployment of both federal law enforcement and the Oregon National Guard. One…

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White House officials are increasingly concerned about Laura Loomer’s influence

White House officials are increasingly concerned about Laura Loomer’s influence

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Trump confidante Laura Loomer has successfully campaigned for the ouster of more than a dozen national security officials and others she has accused of secretly working against the president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda. Now she is training her considerable firepower inside the MAGA tent. In recent weeks, the right-wing conspiracy theorist has: Gone after former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, dubbing him “Tucker Qatarlson” who is being “bought off by the Muslim Brotherhood,”…

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Rejecting injustice: The jury’s role in a politicized justice system

Rejecting injustice: The jury’s role in a politicized justice system

In “Operation Midway Blitz” — an operation that was clearly scripted as a piece of political propaganda (including an action-movie soundtrack) rather than an exercise in law enforcement — Bovino cast himself in the starring role: DHS law enforcement has made OVER 900 ARRESTS during Operation Midway Blitz in Illinois. To every criminal illegal alien: Darkness is no longer your ally. We will find you. pic.twitter.com/m9PxbuK5Ua — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 2, 2025 Coverage of ICE/FBI raids in Chicago detaining…

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