WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington for President Trump’s law enforcement crackdown be armed, the Pentagon said Friday.
The Defense Department didn’t offer any other details about the new development or why it was needed.
The step is a escalation in Trump’s intervention into policing in the nation’s capital and comes as nearly 2,000 National Guard members have been stationed in the city, with the arrival this week of hundreds of troops from several Republican-led states.
Trump initially called up 800 members of the District of Columbia National Guard to assist federal law enforcement in his bid to crack down on crime and homelessness in the capital. Since then, six states have sent troops to the city, growing the military presence.
It was unclear if the guard’s role in the federal intervention would be changing. The guard has so far not taken part in law enforcement but largely have been protecting landmarks like the National Mall and Union Station and helping with crowd control.
The Pentagon and the Army said last week that troops would not carry guns. The new guidance is that they will carry their service-issued weapons.
The city had been informed about the intent for the National Guard to be armed, a person familiar with the conversations said earlier this week. The person was not authorized to disclose the plans and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Spokespeople for the District of Columbia National Guard and a military task force overseeing all the guard troops in Washington did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Toropin writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Anna Johnson contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of West Virginia National Guard members will deploy across the nation’s capital as part of the Trump administration’s assumption of control over policing in the District of Columbia in what it says is part of a nationwide crackdown on crime on homelessness.
The move comes as federal agents and National Guard troops have begun to appear across the heavily Democratic city after Trump’s executive order on Monday federalizing local police forces and activating about 800 D.C. National Guard troops.
By adding outside troops to join the existing National Guard deployment and federal law enforcement officers temporarily assigned to Washington, President Trump is exercising even tighter control over the city. It’s a power play that the president has justified as an emergency response to crime and homelessness, even though district officials have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump’s first term in office.
A protest against Trump’s intervention drew scores to Washington’s Dupont Circle on Saturday afternoon before a march to the White House, about a mile and a half away. Demonstrators assembled behind a banner that said, “No fascist takeover of D.C.,” and some in the crowd held signs that said, “No military occupation.” Trump was at his Virginia golf club after Friday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, announced Saturday that he was sending a contingent of 300 to 400 National Guard members.
“West Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation’s capital,” Morrisey said.
Morgan Taylor, one of the organizers of Saturday’s protest, said demonstrators who turned out on a hot summer day were hoping to spark enough backlash to Trump’s actions that the administration would be forced to pull back.
“It’s hot, but I’m glad to be here. It’s good to see all these people out here,” she said. “I can’t believe that this is happening in this country at this time.”
Protesters said they are concerned about what they view as Trump’s overreach, arguing that he had used crime as a pretext to impose his will on Washington.
John Finnigan, 55, was taking an afternoon bike ride when he ran into the protest in downtown Washington. A real estate construction manager who has lived in the capital for 27 years, he said that Trump’s moves were “ridiculous” because “crime is at a 30-year low here.”
“Hopefully some of the mayors and some of the residents will get out in front of it and try and make it harder for it to happen in other cities,” Finnigan said.
Jamie Dickstein, a 24-year-old teacher, said she was “very uncomfortable and worried” for the safety of her students given the “unmarked officers of all types” now roaming Washington and detaining people.
Dickstein said she turned out to protest with friends and relatives to “prevent a continuous domino effect going forward with other cities.”
The West Virginia National Guard activation suggests the administration sees the need for additional manpower, after Trump played down the need for Washington to hire more police officers.
Maj. Gen. James Seward, West Virginia’s adjutant general — a chief aide to the governor and commanding general of the National Guard — said in a statement that members of the Guard “stand ready to support our partners in the National Capital Region” and that the Guard’s “unique capabilities and preparedness make it an invaluable partner in this important undertaking.”
Federal agents have appeared in some of the city’s most highly trafficked neighborhoods, garnering a mix of praise, resistance and alarm from local residents and leaders across the country.
City leaders, who are obligated to cooperate with the president’s order under the federal laws that direct the district’s local governance, have sought to work with the administration, though they have bristled at the scope of the president’s takeover.
On Friday, the administration reversed course on an order that aimed to place the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as an “emergency police commissioner” after the district’s top lawyer sued to contest. After a court hearing, Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, issued a memo that directed D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law.
District officials say they are evaluating how to best comply.
In his order Monday, Trump declared an emergency, citing the “city government’s failure to maintain public order.” He said that impeded the “federal government’s ability to operate efficiently to address the nation’s broader interests without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant violence.”
In a letter to city residents, Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, wrote that “our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now.”
She added that if Washingtonians stick together, “we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy — even when we don’t have full access to it.”
Brown and Pesoli write for the Associated Press. AP writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.
The extradition agreement comes as Mexico continues to cooperate with the Trump administration despite its tariff threats.
Mexico has expelled 26 alleged high-ranking cartel members to the United States, in its latest deal with the administration of President Donald Trump.
The transfer was confirmed by a joint statement from the Mexican attorney general’s office and its security ministry on Tuesday.
The statement said that the US Justice Department had sought the extradition and that it had given guarantees that the death penalty would not be levied against any of those prosecuted.
The transfer comes as the Trump administration continues to exert pressure on Mexico to take more action against criminal gangs involved in drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Part of that pressure campaign has come in the form of tariffs, with certain Mexican exports to the US now taxed at a higher rate.
Trump has described the import tax as necessary to hold Mexico “accountable” for the “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs”.
In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has struck a careful balance when dealing with Trump, cooperating on some security issues, while drawing clear lines when it comes to her country’s sovereignty. That has included vehemently opposing any US military intervention on Mexican soil.
Still, US media reported last week that Trump has secretly signed an order directing the military to take action against drug-smuggling cartels and other criminal groups from Latin America, which could presage the deployment of US forces both domestically and abroad.
The move on Tuesday was the second time in recent months that Mexico has expelled alleged criminal gang members wanted by the US.
In February, Mexico extradited 29 alleged cartel figures, including Rafael Caro Quintero, who is accused of killing a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent in 1985.
That deal came as Trump threatened to impose blanket 25-percent tariffs on Mexican imports, but the scope of that tariff threat was later pared down.
Currently, the US imposes a 25-percent tariff on Mexican-made cars and products not covered under a pre-existing free trade accord, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Mexico also faces a 50-percent tax on its steel, aluminium and copper products.
But at the end of July, Trump agreed to extend a tariff exemption for goods that fall under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement for 90 days.
The Associated Press news agency reported that Abigael González Valencia, the leader of “Los Cuinis”, a drug-trafficking group closely aligned with the notorious Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG), was among those expelled to the US in the latest deal.
The Trump administration took the unorthodox move of designating the CJNG and seven other Latin American crime groups as “foreign terrorist organisations” upon taking office.
Valencia is the brother-in-law of CJNG leader Nemesio Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, who is considered one of the most wanted people in Mexico and the US.
Valencia was arrested in February 2015 in Mexico and had since been fighting extradition to the US.
Another individual, Roberto Salazar, stands accused of participating in the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, a source told the news agency.
Aug. 7 (UPI) — The United States has blacklisted three high-ranking members and an associated rapper of the notorious Cartel del Noreste, as the Trump administration targets drug trafficking organizations amid it immigration crackdown.
The Treasury announced the sanctions Wednesday against Abdon Federico Rodriguez Garcia, 41, CDN’s second-in-command; Antonio Romero Sanchez, 41, a high-ranking CDN member; Francisco Daniel Esqueda Nieto, 30, CDN’s tactical operations leaded in Nuevo Laredo; and Ricardo Hernandez Medrano, 34, a Mexican rapper known by his stage names El Makabelico or Comando Exclusivo.
According to the Treasury, the four individuals are “key” enablers of the CDN’s “campaign of violence and narco-terrorism.”
While the three members blacklisted are accused of directly leading or participating in the gang’s drug trafficking and other operations, Medrano is being targeted on accusations that his concerts and events are used to launder money for the gang, with 50% of his royalties from streaming platforms allegedly being directed to CDN.
He had millions of followers on YouTube, but his account now seems to have been removed. UPI has contacted YouTube for comment.
“CDN depends on these alternative revenue streams and money laundering methods to boost their criminal enterprise, diversifying their income beyond criminal activity like drug trafficking, human smuggling and extortion,” the Treasury said in a release.
Formerly known as Los Zetas, CDN is a notorious criminal organization based in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon. Along with drugs, CDN has been connected to human and arms trafficking as well as money laundering and vehicle and oil theft.
CDN and seven other cartels were designated foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department in February at the direction of President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order targeting the criminal organizations on his first day in office.
Trump campaigned on securing the border from both criminal cartels and irregular migration, often through the use of incendiary rhetoric and misinformation.
In May, the Treasury sanctioned two high-ranking members of the gang, including a weapons procurer.
“These cartels poison Americans with fentanyl and conduct human smuggling operations along our southwest border,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday in a statement.
“Treasury, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, is committed to a full-frontal assault on the cartels, targeting the leadership and revenue streams that enable their horrific crimes.”
Unlike bulkier battery packs, this one is designed with portability front and centre.
It weighs just 192g, so it’s lighter than most out there and easy to slip into a handbag, backpack, or carry-on.
With a 10000mAh capacity, it’s got more than enough power to get you through a full day, and then some.
And because it’s well under the TSA’s 27,000mAh limit, you can safely pop it in your hand luggage for a mid-flight top-up.
It’s not just the size that makes it handy. It supports 3A fast charging, twice as fast as your average power bank, so you won’t be stuck waiting forever to recharge.
It also has smart safety tech built in to protect your devices from overheating or battery damage, which is always reassuring.
There’s a USB-C IN & OUT port, a USB-A port, and a built-in USB-C cable, so you can charge three devices at once.
Whether it’s your phone, wireless earbuds, or even a mate’s device, this little power bank can handle it.
There’s also a clever little design touch: the micro cable doubles as a lanyard, so you can clip it to your bag and keep it handy while you’re out and about.
There’s no guessing games when it comes to battery life, the LED power display shows you exactly how much juice you’ve got left.
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Amazon’s been rolling out a string of similar deals lately, with popular picks like the TRKOY and Matast Magsafe portable chargers flying off the shelves.
If you’re looking for more top-rated options, check out my tried and tested guide to the best power banks UK buyers love.
Hosgubo Fast-Charging Power Bank, £159.99 £12.99 (Prime member exclusive)
July 23 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Trump administration to remove three members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission as the case proceeds through the courts in another emergency appeal on firings backed by the conservative-dominated court.
In a dissent by Justice Elena Kagan, joined by fellow liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, she said the court majority decided on the emergency appeal to “destroy the independence of an independent agency, as established by Congress.”
The majority opinion was unsigned and based upon an earlier 6-3 order that allowed the dismissal of two independent labor boards in Trump vs. Wilcox: the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board.
“Although our interim orders are not conclusive as to the merits, they inform how a court should exercise its equitable discretion in like cases,” the court ruled. “The stay we issued in Wilcox reflected ‘our judgment that the government faces greater risk of harm from an order allowing a removed officer to continue exercising the executive power than a wrongfully removed officer faces from being unable to perform her statutory duty.’
“The same is true on the facts presented here, where the Consumer Product Safety Commission exercises executive power in a similar manner as the National Labor Relations Board, and the case does not otherwise differ from Wilcox in any pertinent respect.”
The order is stayed pending disposition by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va. On July 1, the three-judge panel rejected Trump’s request for an administrative stay pending appeal.
“Congress lawfully constrained the President’s removal authority, and no court has found that constraint unconstitutional,” the appeals court said. “The district court correctly declined to permit a President — any President — to disregard those limits.”
District Judge Matthew Maddox found on June 13 that Trump’s removal was unlawful and blocked it. Maddox, who serves in Maryland, was appointed by President Joe Biden.
“Depriving this five-member commission of three of its sitting members threatens severe impairment of its ability to fulfill its statutory mandates and advance the public’s interest in safe consumer products,” Maddox wrote in his decision. “This hardship and threat to public safety significantly outweighs any hardship defendants might suffer from plaintiffs’ participation on the CPSC.”
The terms of the five members are staggered to overlap during presidencies.
Boyle’s term was to end in October after filling a vacancy in 2022, with Hoehn-Saric in October 2027 and Trumka in October 2028. The board consists of five members, and they are operating as a two-member quorum, which is allowed for six months.
The remaining members are Acting Chairman Peter Feldman, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, and Republican Douglas Dziak, who was appointed by Biden in 2024.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in a court ruling that Maddox’s decision has “sown chaos and dysfunction” at the agency.
In May, the three commissioners were notified their positions were terminated immediately. A president can legally only remove a commissioner for neglect of duty of malfeasance.
The court has allowed the termination of employees as the cases proceed through the courts.
Lower court judges have relied on a decision in 1935, called Humphrey’s Executor vs. United States, about the mass firings. The Supreme Court has said it will act on this matter.
On July 14, the justices allowed the Trump administration to mass fire half of the Education Department. Trump wants the agency abolished, and the court has not ruled on that decision, which requires a vote by the U.S. Senate.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which was created in 1972, protects consumers from dangerous products, including issuing safety standards and recalls.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat representing Minnesota, criticized the decision, saying: “For over 50 years, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has been free from politics so it can remain focused on its core mission of keeping Americans safe – from banning lead paint, to ensuring electronics aren’t fire hazards, to making swimming pools safe for kids. Last year alone, the Commission recalled 153 million unsafe items.”
“By firing the three Democratic commissioners, the President has undermined the independent structure of the Commission and its critical work — and the Supreme Court is letting it happen,” added the member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
July 12 (UPI) — Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday fired nine former members of former special counsel Jack Smith’s team that was tasked with prosecuting President Donald Trump.
Friday’s firings include two federal prosecutors and seven others who assisted Smith’s failed efforts to charge and convict Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, his handling of classified documents and other alleged offenses, The New York Times reported.
Friday’s firings raised to at least 20 the number of Justice Department employees who lost their jobs for participating in the effort to prosecute Trump.
In addition to the two prosecutors, the others who were fired fired on Friday helped to manage Smith’s office, provided paralegal services, oversaw financial records and conducted information security.
Earlier firings included some support staff, U.S. marshals, litigation assistants and others who were not directly related to Smith’s efforts to prosecute Trump, ABC News reported.
The firings have occurred in batches, similar to those on Friday, and often cite Article II of the Constitution, which defines presidential powers.
Smith on Jan. 11 resigned from the DOJ after completing his work and submitted a final confidential report on the two cases arising from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and the FBI’s raid of Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort in search of classified documents.
A subsequent Senate Judiciary Committee found Smith had withheld relevant impeachment documents related to one of his cases against Trump that involved electors.
Smith knowingly used information generated by an “anti-Trump FBI agent acting in violation of FBI protocol,” the Judiciary Committee reported on Feb. 12.
“Jack Smith and his merry band of DOJ partisans weaponized the justice system to put President Trump and his defense team at an unfair disadvantage,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said of the committee report.
“Smith’s cases against Trump were never about fairness,” Grassley said. “They were always about vengeance and aimed at destroying a political opponent.”
Supporters of The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) hold pictures of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, and shout slogans next to a bonfire during a rally for Newruz celebrations in Diyarbakir, Turkey in March. The PKK began burning its weapons Friday in Iraq after Ocalan called for disarmament. EPA/METIN YOKSU
July 11 (UPI) — The Kurdish militant group PKK took its first step toward peace with Turkey as it burned weapons after 40 years of conflict.
The group of 30 PKK members went to a cave near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, and put their weapons into a fire. It was the first ceremony of its kind for the organization, and more are expected to happen all summer. The Turkish government has said the ceremony is crossing a “critical threshold” toward a “terror-free Turkey.”
PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and others. It formed as a response to poor treatment of Kurds in Turkey and demanded an independent Kurdistan, Kurdish language education and more.
More than 40,000 people have died in the four decades-long conflict.
“We voluntarily destroy our weapons, before your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination,” the PKK said in a statement. The group included 15 men and 15 women.
Witnesses included officials from Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, Iraqi officials, security forces and officials from Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government, members of the Turkish People’s Democratic Party (Dem), and some from non-governmental organizations.
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, long imprisoned by Turkey, said it was “a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law.”
Ocalan has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali near Istanbul since 1999. He’s been kept in solitary confinement.
Devlet Bahceli, a nationalist leader in Turkey and ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, started working to create a “terror-free Turkey” in October 2024. He pushed Ocalan to call for the dissolution of the PKK. The Turkish government began negotiations with Ocalan with the help of the Dem party, which is pro-Kurd. In February, Ocalan appealed to the group to disband in a letter that two Dem MPs read out after visiting the prison.
“All groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself,” Ocalan’s letter said.
It’s an end of an era as Neighbours cast members film their final scenes of the Australian soap opera as cast member break their silence on the show ending after four decades
Neighbours: Death in the Outback storyline teased in trailer
Neighbours has officially wrapped with the cast filming their last day at at Nunawading studios.
This chapter of the iconic Australian soap opera will be brought to a close in December 2025, celebrating over 40 years of entertainment, heart, and history.
Amazon had previously saved the soap in 2022 with it returning the following year, but sadly the deal has now come to an end.
Cast members have been sharing their memories of the soap which recently turned 40, with Paul Robinson actor Stefan Dennis saying: “I never thought a single show would give me the greatest adventures of my career, spanning 40 years.
Neighbours has officially wrapped with the cast members filming their last day at at Nunawading studios
“Without Neighbours I would not have meet the people, been to the places and lived the experiences of a lifetime. Thank you all.”
Susan Kennedy actress Jackie Woodburne continued: “It’s impossible to measure the gratitude I feel for the gift of 30 years on Neighbours.
“To do so I would have to calculate the number of extraordinary cast and crew I have been privileged to work with, count the number of laughs I have shared with them, measure the pride I feel for the diverse, dramatic (and sometimes outrageous!) storytelling we have all been a part of.”
“We are the best version of ‘family’. It has been a wild ride into a happy life. Wouldn’t change it for quids!”
Cast members Jackie Woodburne and Alan Fletcher have opened up about the show ending
Alan Fletcher, who play Karl Kennedy, added: “Neighbours has been my happy place for over 30 years. I will always treasure the creative freedom and enthusiasm amongst the whole team that has allowed us to produce a brilliant show for so long.”
Candice Leask, who plays Wendy Rodwell, explained: “It took me 10 years and five auditions to land the role of Wendy Rodwell.
“The three years playing Wendy and being on Neighbours has changed my life, not only as an actor but also as a person. The people that I have gotten to know so closely from production to crew to cast have allowed me to see how amazing this industry can be.”
Neighbours will be brought to a close in December 2025(Image: Amazon)
Executive Producer, Jason Herbison, said: “Neighbours is a special show and it’s been a privilege to make the recent seasons for our loyal viewers around the world. We have added 460 episodes to our legacy of over 9000 episodes, something we all feel proud of.
“Once again, we will be resting the residents of Ramsay Street on a hopeful note, with some tantalising possibilities for a future chapter.”
Neighbours is available to stream on Amazon Freevee
Alec Baldwin and additional “Rust” movie producers have agreed to settle a negligence lawsuit brought by three New Mexico crew members who witnessed the 2021 fatal shooting of the film’s cinematographer.
Crew members Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin and Reese Price filed the lawsuit in 2023, seeking compensation for the trauma they said they suffered after Baldwin accidentally shot Halyna Hutchins. The crew members were setting up their gear in a small wooden church on the movie set when the shooting occurred.
In the lawsuit, the crew members blamed the tragedy on “dangerous cost-cutting” and a “failure to follow industry safety rules.” The movie’s star, Baldwin, also served as a producer on the low-budget western.
The plaintiffs sued Baldwin, his El Dorado Pictures company and Rust Movie Productions LLC, alleging negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In the suit, the crew members argued that Baldwin and other producers “cut corners, ignored reports of multiple, unscripted firearms discharges, and persisted, rushed and understaffed, to finish the film.”
Baldwin and fellow producers have long denied such allegations.
Last week, the two sides asked a New Mexico civil court judge to dismiss the case.
“All claims have been settled and compromised,” attorneys for both sides wrote in a joint June 25 motion.
Terms of the proposed settlement were not disclosed. Representatives for the two sides declined to comment.
“Each party has agreed to bear its own costs and fees,” the lawyers wrote.
The film was running behind schedule the day of the shooting after camera crew members had walked off the set. The camera technicians have said they were frustrated by inaction over their complaints of a lack of nearby housing, rushed conditions and safety violations, including accidental gun discharges.
The shooting claimed the life of Hutchins, 42. She died that day, leaving behind her husband, their son and her family in Ukraine. The producers previously settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought on behalf of her husband, Matthew Hutchins.
Addiego was the film’s dolly operator, responsible for operating the mechanisms for camera movement. Curtin was the set costumer, overseeing costumes and accessories. Price was the key grip, who handled the nonelectric support gear.
New Mexico authorities brought three criminal prosecutions, including against Baldwin, who pointed the gun at Hutchins during a setup shot for a close-up of Baldwin’s prop revolver.
Baldwin pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and his high-profile trial ended abruptly last July after former New Mexico 1st Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the charge.
The judge found the special prosecutor and Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies had concealed evidence from Baldwin’s legal team, which the judge said prejudiced the case against Baldwin.
At the time, the actor-producer’s team was exploring whether prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies botched the investigation into how the bullets made their way onto the desert set.
The weapons handler Hannah Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter following a two-week trial last year. The Arizona woman was released from prison last month after serving 14 months.
The Oscars’ voting body is growing again with a glittering list of new recruits that includes pop superstar Ariana Grande, newly minted Oscar-winner Kieran Culkin and late-night veterans — and past Oscar hosts — Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien.
On Thursday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it had invited 534 new members across its 19 branches. This year’s class includes Oscar nominees, below-the-line craftspeople and rising international voices — among them “Wicked” star Grande; “Succession” actor Culkin, who won the supporting actor Oscar for “A Real Pain”; and late-night hosts Kimmel, a four-time Oscar emcee, and O’Brien, who hosted the ceremony for the first time this year. In all, the group features 91 Oscar nominees and 26 winners, including Mikey Madison, who took the lead actress Oscar for the best picture winner “Anora.” Madison’s co-stars Yura Borisov and Karren Karagulian were also invited to the actors’ branch.
The latest invitations reflect the academy’s ongoing push for greater inclusion, even after meeting its post-#OscarsSoWhite diversity benchmarks. Of the 2025 class, 41% identify as women, 45% as members of underrepresented ethnic or racial communities and 55% are from outside the United States. Across the total membership, 35% identify as women, 22% as members of underrepresented groups and 21% are based internationally.
After years of rapid expansion — peaking with a record-setting incoming class of 928 in 2018 — the academy has shifted toward more sustainable growth. Still, this year’s tally represents a modest increase over last year’s 487 invitees.
Other additions to the acting branch — the academy’s largest — include “The Apprentice” co-stars Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan, who drew nominations for their portrayals of Roy Cohn and Donald Trump, respectively, in the controversial biopic, along with supporting actress nominee Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”), Aubrey Plaza, Jason Momoa, Jodie Comer, Dave Bautista and “Emilia Pérez” star Adriana Paz. (Notably, “Emilia Pérez” lead Karla Sofía Gascón, who made history this year as the first openly transgender performer nominated in the lead acting category, did not receive an invitation — a decision that follows backlash over past controversial remarks.)
New recruits to the directors branch include this year’s nominees Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”) and Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”), as well as Gints Zilbalodis, who directed the Oscar-winning animated feature “Flow.” Invitees in the documentary branch include the team behind this year’s Oscar-winning “No Other Land”: Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor.
“We are thrilled to invite this esteemed class of artists, technologists and professionals to join the Academy,” academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang said in a joint statement. “Through their commitment to filmmaking and to the greater movie industry, these exceptionally talented individuals have made indelible contributions to our global filmmaking community.”
If all invitations are accepted, the academy’s total membership will rise to 11,120, including 10,143 voting members.
The Senegalese women’s basketball team has scrapped plans to train in the U.S. for the upcoming AfroBasket tournament in the Ivory Coast next month after several players and team officials had their visas denied, Senegal’s prime minister said.
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said on Facebook Thursday that the team would train in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, “in a sovereign and conducive setting.”
The West African nation’s federation said in a statement that the visa applications of five players and seven officials weren’t approved.
“Informed of the refusal of issuing visas to several members of the Senegal women’s national basketball team, I have instructed the Ministry of Sports to simply cancel the 10-day preparatory training initially planned in the United States of America,” Sonko said.
The visa denials come amid a push by the Trump administration to make countries improve vetting of travelers or face a ban on their citizens visiting the United States. Senegal wasn’t on that list of countries and it was not immediately clear why the visas were denied.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told the Associated Press that it could not comment on individual cases because visa records are confidential under U.S. law.
The travel ban includes exemptions for the World Cup, the Olympics and any “other major sporting event,” though it’s unclear what constitutes a major event.
The team is coached by Otis Hughley Jr., who previously led the Nigerian women’s basketball team. He was the men’s coach at Alabama A&M University before resigning in March.
Senegal, which was going to train in the U.S. from Sunday through July 3, has finished first or second in four of the last five AfroBasket championships over the last decade and has won 11 titles overall. The tournament determines Africa’s champion, which earns entry into the FIBA World Cup next year in Germany.
WASHINGTON — The day after immigration raids began in Los Angeles, Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) and three other members of Congress were denied entry to the immigrant detention facility inside the Roybal Federal Building.
The lawmakers were attempting an unannounced inspection, a common and long-standing practice under congressional oversight powers.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said too many protesters were present on June 7 and officers deployed chemical agents multiple times. In a letter later to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Torres said she ended up in the emergency room for respiratory treatment. She also said the protest had been small and peaceful.
Torres is one of many Democratic members of Congress, from states including California, New York and Illinois, who have been denied entry to immigrant detention facilities in recent weeks.
Jim Townsend, director of the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at Wayne State University in Michigan, said the denials mark a profound — and illegal — shift from past practice.
“Denying members of Congress access to facilities is a direct assault on our system of checks and balances,” he said. “What members of Congress are trying to do now is to be part of a proud bipartisan tradition of what we like to call oversight by showing up.”
Subsequent attempts by lawmakers to inspect the facility inside the Roybal Building have also been unsuccessful.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), who was with Torres the day she was hospitalized, went back twice more — on June 9 and on Tuesday — and was rebuffed. Torres and Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) tried at separate times Wednesday and were both denied.
Gomez and other Democrats have pointed to a federal statute, detailed in yearly appropriations packages since 2020, which states that funds may not be used to prevent a member of Congress “from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens …”
The statute also states that nothing in that section “may be construed to require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility” for the purpose of conducting oversight. Under the statute, federal officials may require at least 24 hours notice for a visit by congressional staff — but not members themselves.
Under ICE guidelines published this month for members of Congress and their staff, the agency requests at least 72 hours notice from lawmakers and requires at least 24 hours notice from staff.
The agency says it has discretion to deny or reschedule a visit if an emergency arises or the safety of the facility is jeopardized, though such contingencies are not mentioned in the law.
Gomez said an ICE official called him Tuesday to say that oversight law doesn’t apply to the downtown L.A. facility because it is a field office, not a detention facility.
“Well it does say Metropolitan Detention Center right here in big, bold letters,” he says in a video posted afterward on social media, gesturing toward a sign outside the building. “But they say this is a processing center. So I smell bull—.”
Department of Homeland Security police patrol the street after detaining a protester at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in downtown L.A. on June 12.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
If no one is technically being detained, Gomez said he rhetorically asked the official during their call, are they free to leave?
Torres visited the facility in February by setting up an appointment, her staff said. She got another appointment for last Saturday, but ICE canceled it because of the protests. When members emailed ICE to set up a new appointment, they got no response.
Gomez said he believes ICE doesn’t want lawmakers to see field offices because of poor conditions and lack of attorney access because of ramped-up arrests that have reportedly left some detainees there overnight without beds and limited food.
In some cases, lawmakers have had success showing up unannounced. On Friday, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) toured the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility, north of San Bernardino. After being denied entry to the Adelanto Facility on June 8, Chu and four other California Democrats were allowed in on Tuesday.
“Just because ICE has opened their doors to a few members of Congress does not excuse their inflammatory tactics to meet deportation quotas,” said Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside), who visited Adelanto with Chu. “Accountability means showing a consistent pattern of accessibility, not just a one-off event.”
The representatives learned the facility is now at full capacity with 1,100 detainees, up from 300 a month ago. Chu said they spoke to detainees from the L.A. raids, who she said were not criminals and who are now living in inhumane conditions — without enough food, unable to change their underwear for 10 days or to call their families and lawyers.
Chu said the group arrived early and stood in the lobby to avoid a repeat of their previous attempt, when facility guards kept them off the property by locking a fence.
Tom Homan, President Trump’s border policy advisor, departs a meeting with Republican senators who are working to cancel $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress at the Capitol in Washington on June 11.
(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)
In an interview with The Times this month, Trump’s chief border policy advisor Tom Homan said members of Congress are welcome to conduct oversight, but that they must contact the facility first to make arrangements. The agency has to look after the safety and security of the facility, officers and detainees, he said.
“Please go in and look at them,” he said. “They’re the best facilities that money can buy, the highest detention standards in the industry. But there’s a right way and wrong way to do it.”
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for Homeland Security, said in a statement to The Times that requests for visits are needed because “ICE law enforcement have seen a surge in assaults, disruptions and obstructions to enforcement, including by politicians themselves.”
She added that requests for visits should be made with enough time — “a week is sufficient” — to not interfere with the president’s authority under Article II of the Constitution to oversee executive branch functions.
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, flanked by Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Madison Sheahan, left, and acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons, speaks during a news conference in Washington on May 21.
“This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny Member visits to ICE offices across the country, which are holding migrants — and sometimes even U.S. citizens — for days at a time,” he wrote. “They are therefore facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie.”
Townsend, the congressional oversight expert, said the practice goes back to when President Truman was a senator and established a committee to investigate problems among contractors who were supplying the World War II effort.
“That committee conducted hundreds of field visits, and they would show up unannounced in many instances,” Townsend said.
More recently, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) drove to the Pentagon in 1983 and demanded access to ask questions about overspending after being stonewalled, he said, by Department of Defense officials.
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution to mean that Congress has wide authority to conduct oversight to show up unannounced in order to secure accurate information, Townsend said.
National Guard members stand at post at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on June 10.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said the Trump administration is trying to hide the truth from the public. Last week, Padilla was shoved out of a news conference, forced to the ground and handcuffed after attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“The Trump administration has done everything in their power but to provide transparency to the American people about their mission in Los Angeles,” he said during an impassioned floor speech Wednesday in which he cried recounting the ordeal.
In an interview Wednesday with Newsmax, McLaughlin accused Democratic lawmakers of using oversight as an excuse to stage publicity stunts.
“The Democrats are reeling,” she said. “They have no actual message and so they’re doing this to get more attention and to manufacture viral moments.”
On Tuesday, Gomez wore a suit jacket with his congressional lapel pin and carried his congressional ID card and business card in his hand — “so there would be no mistake” as to who he was. He said he was concerned that what happened to Padilla could also happen to him. He was denied access anyway.
Gomez said federal officials should be fined each time they deny oversight access to members of Congress. He said he and other members are also discussing whether to file a lawsuit to compel access.
“When you have an administration that is operating outside the bounds of the law, they’re basically saying, ‘What recourse do you have? Can you force us? You don’t have an army. We don’t need to listen to you,’” Gomez said. “Then you have to put some real teeth into it.”
Times staff writer Nathan Solis in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
NEW YORK — All 17 experts recently dismissed from a government vaccine advisory panel published an essay Monday decrying “destabilizing decisions” made by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that could lead to more preventable disease spread.
Kennedy last week announced he would “retire” the entire panel that guides U.S. vaccine policy. He also quietly removed Dr. Melinda Wharton — the veteran Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who coordinated the committee’s meetings.
Two days later, he named eight new people to the influential panel. The list included a scientist who criticized COVID-19 vaccines, a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns and someone who worked with a group widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation.
“We are deeply concerned that these destabilizing decisions, made without clear rationale, may roll back the achievements of U.S. immunization policy, impact people’s access to lifesaving vaccines, and ultimately put U.S. families at risk of dangerous and preventable illnesses,” the 17 panelists wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
The new committee is scheduled to meet next week. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been posted, but a recent federal notice said votes are expected on vaccinations against flu, COVID-19, HPV, RSV and meningococcal bacteria.
In addition to Wharton’s removal, CDC immunization staff have been cut and agency experts who gather or present data to committee members have resigned.
One, Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, resigned after 12 years at CDC, disclosing her decision early this month in a note to members of a COVID-19 vaccines work group. Her decision came after Kennedy decided — without consulting the vaccine advisers — to pull back COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women.
“My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role,” she wrote in a message viewed by the Associated Press.
Those CDC personnel losses will make it hard for a group of new outside advisers to quickly come up to speed and make fact-based decisions about which vaccines to recommend to the public, the former committee members said.
“The termination of all members and its leadership in a single action undermines the committee’s capacity to operate effectively and efficiently, aside from raising questions about competence,” they wrote.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to the JAMA commentary, but instead pointed to Kennedy’s previous comments on the committee.
Kennedy, a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before becoming the U.S. government’s top health official, has accused the committee of being too closely aligned with vaccine manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the CDC director on how vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations, which are widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs.
ACIP policies require members to state past collaborations with vaccine companies and to recuse themselves from votes in which they had a conflict of interest, but Kennedy has dismissed those safeguards as weak.
NEW YORK — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he abruptly dismissed earlier this week.
They include a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and became a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines, a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns, and a professor of operations management.
Kennedy’s decision to “retire” the previous 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was widely decried by doctors’ groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy’s desire to reassess — and possibly end — longstanding vaccination recommendations.
On Tuesday, before he announced his picks, Kennedy said: “We’re going to bring great people onto the ACIP panel — not anti-vaxxers — bringing people on who are credentialed scientists.”
The new appointees include Vicky Pebsworth, a regional director for the National Assn. of Catholic Nurses. She has been listed as a board member and volunteer director for the National Vaccine Information Center, a group that is widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation.
Another is Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he’s promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19.
He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots and has suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He’s downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years.
Malone told the Associated Press he will do his best “to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor.”
Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named.
Abram Wagner of the University of Michigan’s school of public health, who investigates vaccination programs, said he’s not satisfied with the composition of the committee.
“The previous ACIP was made up of technical experts who have spent their lives studying vaccines,” he said. Most people on the current list “don’t have the technical capacity that we would expect out of people who would have to make really complicated decisions involving interpreting complicated scientific data.”
He said having Pebsworth on the board is “incredibly problematic” since she is involved in an organization that “distributes a lot of misinformation.”
The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used. The CDC’s final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs.
The other appointees are:
Dr. James Hibbeln, who formerly headed a National Institutes of Health group focused on nutritional neurosciences and who studies how nutrition affects the brain, including the potential benefits of seafood consumption during pregnancy.
Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies business issues related to supply chain, logistics, pricing optimization and health and healthcare management. In a 2023 video pinned to an X profile under his name, Levi called for the end of the COVID-19 vaccination program, claiming the vaccines were ineffective and dangerous despite evidence they saved millions of lives. Levi told the AP he would try to help inform “public health policies with data and science, with the goal of improving the health and wellbeing of people and regain the public trust.”
Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician from Los Angeles.
Dr. Michael Ross, a Virginia-based obstetrician and gynecologist who previously served on a CDC breast and cervical cancer advisory committee. He is described as a “serial CEO and physician leader” in a bio for Havencrest Capital Management, a private equity investment firm where he is an operating partner.
Of the eight named by Kennedy, perhaps the most experienced in vaccine policy is Meissner, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, who has previously served as a member of both ACIP and the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel.
During his five-year term as an FDA adviser, the committee was repeatedly asked to review and vote on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines that were rapidly developed to fight the pandemic. In September 2021, he joined the majority of panelists who voted against a plan from the Biden administration to offer an extra vaccine dose to all American adults. The panel instead recommended that the extra shot should be limited to seniors and those at higher risk of the disease.
Ultimately, the FDA disregarded the panel’s recommendation and approved an extra vaccine dose for all adults.
In addition to serving on government panels, Meissner has helped author policy statements and vaccination schedules for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
ACIP members typically serve in staggered four-year terms, although several appointments were delayed during the Biden administration before positions were filled last year. The voting members are all supposed to have scientific or clinical expertise in immunization, except for one “consumer representative” who can bring perspective on community and social facets of vaccine programs.
Kennedy, a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before becoming the U.S. government’s top health official, has accused the committee of being too closely aligned with vaccine manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines. ACIP policies require members to state past collaborations with vaccine companies and to recuse themselves from votes in which they had a conflict of interest, but Kennedy has dismissed those safeguards as weak.
Most of the people who best understand vaccines are those who have researched them, which usually requires some degree of collaboration with the companies that develop and sell them, said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher.
“If you are to exclude any reputable, respected vaccine expert who has ever engaged even in a limited way with the vaccine industry, you’re likely to have a very small pool of folks to draw from,” Schwartz said.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Kennedy in February after he promised he would not change the vaccination schedule. But less than a week later, he vowed to investigate childhood vaccines that prevent measles, polio and other dangerous diseases.
Kennedy has ignored some of the recommendations ACIP voted for in April, including the endorsement of a new combination shot that protects against five strains of meningococcal bacteria and the expansion of vaccinations against RSV.
In late May, Kennedy disregarded the committee and announced the government would change the recommendation for children and pregnant women to get COVID-19 shots.
On Monday, Kennedy ousted all 17 members of the ACIP, saying he would appoint a new group before the next scheduled meeting in late June. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been posted, but a recent federal notice said votes are expected on vaccinations against flu, COVID-19, HPV, RSV and meningococcal bacteria.
A HHS spokesman did not respond to a question about whether there would be only eight ACIP members, or whether more will be named later.
Stobbe writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press reporters Matthew Perrone, Amanda Seitz, Devi Shastri and Laura Ungar contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
BALTIMORE — A federal judge has blocked the terminations of three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission after they were fired by President Trump in his effort to assert more power over independent federal agencies.
The commission helps protect consumers from dangerous products by issuing recalls, suing errant companies and more. Trump announced last month his decision to fire the three Democrats on the five-member commission. They were serving seven-year terms after being nominated by President Biden.
After suing the Trump administration last month, the fired commissioners received a ruling in their favor Friday; it will likely be appealed.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued the case was clearcut. Federal statute states that the president can fire commissioners “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other cause” — allegations that have not been made against the commissioners in question.
But attorneys for the Trump administration assert that the statute is unconstitutional because the president’s authority extends to dismissing federal employees who “exercise significant executive power,” according to court filings.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox agreed with the plaintiffs, declaring their dismissals unlawful.
He had previously denied their request for a temporary restraining order, which would have reinstated them on an interim basis. That decision came just days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority declined to reinstate board members of two other independent agencies, endorsing a robust view of presidential power. The court said that the Constitution appears to give the president the authority to fire the board members “without cause.” Its three liberal justices dissented.
In his written opinion filed Friday, Maddox presented a more limited view of the president’s authority, finding “no constitutional defect” in the statute that prohibits such terminations. He ordered that the plaintiffs be allowed to resume their duties as product safety commissioners.
The ruling adds to a larger ongoing legal battle over a 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey’s Executor. In that case from 1935, the court unanimously held that presidents cannot fire independent board members without cause. The decision ushered in an era of powerful independent federal agencies charged with regulating labor relations, employment discrimination, the airwaves and much else. But it has long rankled conservative legal theorists who argue the modern administrative state gets the Constitution all wrong because such agencies should answer to the president.
During a hearing before Maddox last week, arguments focused largely on the nature of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and its powers, specifically whether it exercises “substantial executive authority.”
Maddox, a Biden nominee, noted the difficulty of cleanly characterizing such functions. He also noted that Trump was breaking from precedent by firing the three commissioners, rather than following the usual process of making his own nominations when the opportunity arose.
Abigail Stout, an attorney representing the Trump administration, argued that any restrictions on the president’s removal power would violate his constitutional authority.
After Trump announced the Democrats’ firings, four Democratic U.S. senators sent a letter to the president urging him to reverse course.
“This move compromises the ability of the federal government to apply data-driven product safety rules to protect Americans nationwide, away from political influence,” they wrote.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission was created in 1972. Its five members must maintain a partisan split, with no more than three representing the president’s party. They serve staggered terms.
That structure ensures that each president has “the opportunity to influence, but not control,” the commission, attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in court filings. They argued the recent terminations could jeopardize the commission’s independence.
Attorney Nick Sansone, who represents the three commissioners, praised the ruling Friday.
“Today’s opinion reaffirms that the President is not above the law,” he said in a statement.
California Democrats plan to question Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday about the immigration raids that have roiled Los Angeles, the federal commandeering of the state’s National Guard and the deployment of Marines in the region when he testifies before the House Armed Services Committee.
Several committee members said they received no advance notice about the federal immigration sweeps at workplaces and other locations that started Friday and that prompted large and at times fiery protests in downtown Los Angeles.
“That’s going to change,” said Rep. Derek Tran (D-Orange), when the committee questions Hegseth on Thursday morning.
“We need to de-escalate the situation,” Tran said in an interview. President Trump and his administration’s moves, most recently deploying hundreds of Marines in Southern California, “escalates the situation, sending in troops that shouldn’t be there, that are trained to shoot and kill.”
Though largely peaceful, protests about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions have been punctuated by incidents of violence and lawlessness. As of Tuesday evening, several hundred people had been detained on suspicion of crimes or because of their immigration status.
After dissenters blocked the 101 Freeway, vandalized buildings in downtown Los Angeles and stole from businesses, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday imposed a curfew in the city’s civic core from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Thursday’s testimony before the House Armed Services Committee will be Hegseth’s third appearance on Capitol Hill this week. He was questioned Tuesday by the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.
Both appearances were testy. On Wednesday, Hegseth insisted the deployment of Marines in Los Angeles was lawful but couldn’t name the law under which it is allowed. On Tuesday, he was buffeted with questions about the “chaos” in his tenure, his discussion of national secrets on a Signal group chat and the lack of information provided to elected leaders about Defense Department operations and budgets, including the cost of the federal deployment in Los Angeles.
“I want your plan!” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) demanded. “What is your plan for the future? Can we get that in writing and on paper so that we know where you’re going? Because we don’t have anything today. We have zip! Nada!”
Hegseth responded that the agency has the details and would provide them to members of Congress. The Pentagon posted a video clip of the back-and-forth on X that tagged the congresswoman and was titled “WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING!”
Thursday’s hearing is especially notable because the committee oversees the Pentagon budget. None of the Republican members of the committee are from California. More than a dozen who were asked to weigh in on the hearing didn’t respond.
Republicans are expected to reflect the sentiments expressed by Trump, most recently on Wednesday when he took questions from reporters on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center shortly before attending a performance of “Les Miserables” with First Lady Melania Trump.
“We are going to have law and order in our country,” he said. “If I didn’t act quickly on that, Los Angeles would be burning to the ground right now.”
“These are radical left lunatics that you’re dealing with, and they’re tough, they’re smart, they’re probably paid, many of them, as you know, they’re professionals,” he added. “When you see them chopping up concrete because the bricks got captured, they’re chopping up concrete and they’re using that as a weapon. That’s pretty bad.”
Seven of the committee’s members are Democrats from California, and they are expected to press Hegseth on the legal underpinnings of the deployment of federal forces in the state, the lack of notification or coordination with state and local officials and the conditions and future of residents swept up in the raids.
“The president’s decision to deploy the National Guard and the U.S. Marines over the objections of California officials has escalated the situation, creating unnecessary chaos and putting public safety at risk,” said Rep. George Whitesides (D-Agua Dulce). “As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I’m deeply concerned with the precedent this sets, and the apparent lack of protocol followed, and I will be seeking answers.”
Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), a Mexican immigrant who served in the Marine Corps Reserve and is also a member of the committee, said Trump is doing what he does best.
“He likes to play arsonist and firefighter,” Carbajal said in an interview.
He argued Trump is using the raids to deflect attention from legislation that will harm the most vulnerable Americans while enriching the wealthy.
“There’s a question of whether what he’s doing is legal, regarding him and Hegseth sending in Marines. The governor and the mayor did not request the National Guard, let alone the Marines,” Carbajal said. “This is likely a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of U.S. forces in the U.S.”
Carbajal also said he expects what has unfolded in Los Angeles in recent days to be replicated in communities nationwide, a concern raised by Bass and other Democrats on Wednesday.
As a former Marine, Carbajal added that he and his fellow veterans had no role to play domestically, barring crisis.
“We’re not trained for this. There is no role for Marines on American soil unless rebellion is happening,” he said. “This is so ridiculous. It says a lot about the administration and what it’s willing to do to distract and create a more stressful, volatile environment.”
“Let’s make it clear,” he added. “We Democrats don’t support any violent protests. But as a Marine, there is no place for the U.S. military on domestic soil under the guise and reasoning he’s provided.”
An additional 2,000 National Guard soldiers, along with 700 Marines, have headed to Los Angeles on orders from United States President Donald Trump, escalating a military presence local officials and California Governor Gavin Newsom do not want, and which the city’s police chief says creates logistical challenges for safely handling protests.
An initial deployment of 2,000 National Guard personnel ordered by Trump started arriving on Sunday, as violence erupted during protests driven by an accelerated enforcement of immigration laws that critics say are breaking apart families.
Monday’s demonstrations were less raucous. Thousands peacefully attended a rally at City Hall, hundreds protested outside a federal complex that includes a detention centre where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city.
Los Angeles Police Department chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement he was confident in LAPD’s ability to handle large-scale demonstrations, and that the Marines’ arrival without coordinating with police would present a “significant logistical and operational challenge” for them.
Newsom called the deployments reckless and “disrespectful to our troops” in a post on the social media platform X.
“This isn’t about public safety. It’s about stroking a dangerous President’s ego.”
The protests began on Friday in downtown Los Angeles after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city.
In a directive on Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority” of the US government.
The smell of smoke hung in the air on Monday, one day after crowds blocked a major motorway and set self-driving cars on fire, and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flashbangs.
Additional protests against immigration raids continued into the evening on Monday in several other cities, including San Francisco and Santa Ana in California and Dallas and Austin in Texas.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a post on X that more than a dozen protesters were arrested, while in Santa Ana, a police spokesperson said the National Guard had arrived in the city to secure federal buildings.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops following the first deployment, telling reporters in his announcement on Monday that Trump had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty.
Trump said Los Angeles would have been “completely obliterated” if he had not deployed the National Guard.
US officials said the Marines were being deployed to protect federal property and personnel, including immigration agents.
Several dozen protesters were arrested over the weekend. Authorities say one person was arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police and another for ramming a motorbike into a line of officers.
The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor’s permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice.
US President Trump-appointed Health Secretary and vaccine sceptic will replace panel with his own selections.
United States Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr has purged a 17-member panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that provides expertise on vaccines.
Kennedy, who before taking a position in the administration of President Donald Trump was a vocal anti-vaccine activist, has said he will replace the panel with his own picks.
“Today, we are prioritising the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” Kennedy said. “The public must know that unbiased science – evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest – guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”
Kennedy’s reorganisation of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is the latest move by the Trump administration to shake up US health practices, sometimes by pushing ideas that depart strongly from the existing scientific consensus on issues such as vaccinations and fluoride.
“That’s a tragedy,” a former chief scientist of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Jesse Goodman, said of the firings.
“This is a highly professional group of scientists and physicians and others … It’s the kind of political meddling that will reduce confidence rather than increase confidence.”
The HHS said that all 17 members of the panel were selected during the administration of former President Joe Biden, and that keeping them on would have prevented Trump from choosing the majority of the panel’s members until 2028.
The department said that the ACIP will convene its next meeting on June 25-27. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves vaccinations for public use, the ACIP reviews data in public meetings before voting on whether to recommend a vaccine.
