#Trump issued an #ExecutiveOrder on his first day in office freezing #ForeignAid…, & a month later, furloughed most #USAID employees. Virtually the entire person workforce, once 10k people strong, will be laid off permanently this summer….

The move highlights the many unforeseen [by them] challenges facing the Trump admin’s efforts to cut the #federal workforce, including a dearth of #EssentialWorkers. It comes as the admin plans to eliminate all overseas positions by Sept 30….

All the guns and ammo taken off #Texas streets will make America happy again and if #Texans decide they want to shoot their guns at #federal troops, they will be detained as enemies of America.

#Trump’s order did not specify any standards for when #troops would be able use #force — like arresting people or shooting them—if his admin deemed a #protest to threaten #federal personnel, property or functions.

Notably, #PeteHegseth has railed against #military lawyers who promoted what he saw as unduly restrictive rules of engagement aimed at protecting #civilians in war zones. He has fired the top judge advocate general (#JAG) lawyers who give advice on legal constraints.

Thomas Henning, a neuroscience PhD student at Caltech, hesitated to join a #protest Sunday after his father warned that the #NationalGuard would be there.

“I was scared to come. But I wouldn’t feel good about myself if I didn’t,” the 27yo Henning said as he stood near armed National Guard members arrayed outside the #federal #immigration #detention center in downtown #LosAngeles.

#Trump #law #Title10 #PosseComitatusAct #democracy #RightToProtest #FreedomOfAssembly #authoritarianism #Gestapo

The members of California’s #NationalGuard were seen staging early Sunday at the #federal complex in downtown #LosAngeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, where confrontations occurred the last 2 days.

#Trump says he is deploying 2,000 #California National Guard troops to Los Angeles — over the objections of #Governor #GavinNewsom.

The situation in #LosAngeles, #California is a new one. #Trump has called up the CA #NationalGuard, not another #state’s guard. So there’s no #FigLeaf despite the fact that both the #mayor & the #governor have objected to the action.

This SHOULD make the act illegal acc/to the #PosseComitatusAct without the express invocation of the #InsurrectionAct.

The fig leaf Trump is attempting to employ is the assertion that the guard will only be protecting #federal personnel & property.

The deployment of non-federalized, out-of-state #NationalGuard forces into a jurisdiction WITHOUT its consent represents another threat to the #PosseComitatusAct. When operating in #Title32 status, Guard forces are exempt from the Act because they are under #state command & control. A key part of that control is the #governor’s right to DECLINE a particular #federal mission.

Another weakness in the #PosseComitatusAct arises from the #law that allows the #NationalGuard to operate in “Title 32 status.” In #Title32 status, a middle ground between purely #state operations & federalization, Guard personnel are paid w/ #federal funds & may perform missions requested by the president, but they remain under STATE COMMAND & CONTROL. That means they are not subject to the Posse Comitatus Act, even though they are serving federal interests.

Members of the #NationalGuard are rarely covered by the #PosseComitatusAct because they USUALLY report to their #state or territory’s #governor. That means they are free to participate in law enforcement if doing so is consistent w/ state #law. HOWEVER, when Guard personnel are called into #FEDERAL service, or “federalized,” they become part of the federal #ArmedForces, which means they ARE bound by the Posse Comitatus Act until they are returned to state control.

• When the #US is #invaded or in danger of #invasion;

• when there is a #rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the US govt [like on #Jan6],

• or when the President is unable to “execute the laws of the United States,” with regular forces.

The #NationalGuard is a hybrid entity that serves both #state & #federal interests. Often it operates under state command & control, using state funding. Sometimes National Guard troops will be assigned by their state to serve federal missions, remaining under state command but using federal funding.

The #law cited by #Trump’s memo places National Guard troops under federal command. The law says that can be done under 3 circumstances: