Today in one sentence: California sued the Trump administration for deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval; the Trump administration is moving to cancel large amounts of federal funding to California, targeting university grants and other programs; Kilmar Abrego Garcia – the Maryland resident the Trump administration deported to El Salvador in March in defiance of a federal court order – was returned to the U.S. to face human smuggling charges; Trump said he has no plans to reconcile with Elon Musk, warning that the billionaire could face “very serious consequences”; more than 340 National Institutes of Health employees and former staff accused the Trump administration of dismantling the agency’s core research work; Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel; the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Department of Government Efficiency to access Social Security data on tens of millions of Americans; and five Proud Boys leaders who were pardoned by Trump sued the federal government for $100 million, claiming their Jan. 6 convictions amounted to “political persecution.”

1/ California sued the Trump administration for deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval. Attorney General Rob Bonta called the order was “unlawful,” arguing that federal law that limits such Guard deployments to cases of rebellion or invasion. “There’s no rebellion. There’s no invasion,” Bonta said. Trump, however, invoked Title 10 of the U.S. Code and claimed the ongoing protests over immigration raids in LA amounted to “a form of rebellion” against the government. He gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth control over the Guard and authority to use “any number” of troops to protect federal agents and facilities. So far, 300 Guard troops and 700 Marines have been deployed, with Hegseth warning: “If violence continues, active-duty Marines […] will also be mobilized — they are on high alert.” The protests began Friday after ICE conducted a wave of immigration raids across Los Angeles County. Demonstrators shut down freeways, set cars on fire, and clashed with police, who used tear gas and flash-bangs. LAPD made over 30 arrests for offenses including looting, assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder involving a Molotov cocktail. Trump called the protesters “insurrectionists” and warned: “If they spit, we will hit […] Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.” Newsom, meanwhile, condemned the deployment as a political stunt. “This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust,” he said, adding that local authorities had the situation under control. “The federal government is taking over the California National Guard […] not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle.” The situation escalated further after Trump’s border adviser, Tom Homan, threatened to arrest Newsom and LA Mayor Karen for obstructing federal enforcement. Newsom responded: “Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.” Trump later backed the idea, saying: “I would do it if I were Tom. Gavin likes the publicity.” Bonta accused the administration of manufacturing a crisis. “The president is trying to provoke chaos on the ground for his own political ends,” he said. “We’re asking the court to put a stop to this unlawful, unprecedented order.” (CNN / Associated Press / NPR / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / NBC News / Politico / Axios / Reuters / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Bloomberg / NBC News / Politico / Politico)

  • Live blogs: Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News / NBC News / CNN
  • 💡 For Trump, This Is a Dress Rehearsal. “Ordering the National Guard to deploy in Los Angeles is a warning of what to expect when his hold on power is threatened.” (The Atlantic)
  • 💡 Trump’s troop deployment is a warning sign for what comes next, legal scholars fear. “Trump has cited a provision of U.S. law that allows the president to use the National Guard to suppress the ’danger of a rebellion.’” (Politico)
  • 💡 Sending the National Guard to LA is not about stopping rioting. “The city is being punished for resisting the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.” (The Economist)
  • 💡 We are witnessing the first stages of a Trump police state. “The national guard’s deployment in Los Angeles sets the US on a familiar authoritarian pathway. History shows the results.” (The Guardian)

2/ The Trump administration is moving to cancel large amounts of federal funding to California, targeting university grants and other programs. Agencies were told to identify funding tied to California and prepare legal justifications for cuts, including claims the state violated Trump’s executive orders on diversity and campus antisemitism. “No taxpayer should be forced to fund the demise of our country,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said, calling California’s policies “lunatic.” Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, suggested that the state consider withholding its federal tax payments: “We pay over $80 BILLION more in taxes than we get back. Maybe it’s time to cut that off.” The cuts, however, could violate a 2024 court injunction that bars the federal government from freezing or canceling grants to states without due process. (CNN / Washington Post / Politico)

3/ Kilmar Abrego Garcia – the Maryland resident the Trump administration deported to El Salvador in March in defiance of a federal court order – was returned to the U.S. to face human smuggling charges. After claiming for months it couldn’t retrieve him because “he was in Salvadoran custody,” the Trump administration secured his return only after indicting him under seal in Tennessee. Attorney General Pam Bondi called him “a smuggler of humans and children and women” and linked him to MS-13, though the indictment charges only migrant transport and relies largely on claims from unnamed co-conspirators. “They’re bringing him back, not to correct their error but to prosecute him,” his lawyer said. “This is an abuse of power, not justice.” Trump, meanwhile, denied involvement, saying “The Department of Justice decided to do it that way.” (NPR / CNBC / Axios / Bloomberg / ABC News / Politico / NBC News / ABC News)

4/ Trump said he has no plans to reconcile with Elon Musk, warning that the billionaire could face “very serious consequences” if he supports Democratic candidates in 2026. “I would assume [the relationship] is over,” Trump said. “I gave him a lot of breaks […] I saved his life in my first administration.” After Musk called Trump’s tax-and-spending bill a “disgusting abomination,” Trump responded by threatening to cancel Musk’s federal contracts. Musk then posted, without evidence, that Trump was named in the Jeffrey Epstein files and that the Justice Department was hiding them – claims he later deleted, along with another post endorsing Trump’s third impeachment. Trump dismissed the accusation as “old news,” saying that “Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it.” The allegation, however, prompted two House Democrats to demand answers from Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. They asked for documents, timelines, and a list of all personnel involved in the review. Meanwhile, Trump’s allies have pressured donors to cut ties with Musk. “We are taking away Elon’s friends,” one White House official said. NASA and Pentagon officials also moved to identify backup contractors after Musk threatened to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which NASA uses to reach the International Space Station. Although Musk backtracked, a NASA official said the threat “turned really terrifying.” (New York Times / Axios / NBC News / Washington Post / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / CNBC / The Hill / Wall Street Journal / Rolling Stone / Washington Post)

  • JD Vance defended Trump, dismissing Musk’s claim that Trump appeared in the Epstein files as “absolutely not” true [Editor’s note: No comment from Vance on his couch, though]. Asked about Musk’s now-deleted posts calling for Trump’s impeachment and suggesting Vance replace him, Vance avoided direct criticism, saying only that Musk had “gone so nuclear.” Vance, however, called the attacks “a huge mistake,” but described Musk as “an incredible entrepreneur” and said he hopes he’ll “come back into the fold.” Trump had instructed Vance to take a “diplomatic” approach, according to aides. (The Hill / Bloomberg / Washington Post / ABC News)

5/ More than 340 National Institutes of Health employees and former staff accused the Trump administration of dismantling the agency’s core research work in a letter sent to Director Jay Bhattacharya. The letter, titled the “Bethesda Declaration,” cites the termination of 2,100 research grants worth $9.5 billion and $2.6 billion in canceled contracts, claiming trials were shut down mid-treatment and patients were left with unmonitored medical devices. “We dissent to administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe,” they wrote. The letter follows the firing of roughly 5,000 workers by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Bhattacharya’s appointment in April. Bhattacharya, who co-authored the 2020 “Great Barrington Declaration” opposing COVID restrictions, dismissed the claims as containing “fundamental misconceptions,” saying: “Nevertheless, respectful dissent in science is productive.” (STAT News / NPR / CNN / The Atlantic / New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post)

6/ Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, saying a “clean sweep” was needed to restore “public confidence in vaccine science.” The committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, makes binding recommendations on who should get vaccines and which shots insurers must cover. Kennedy accused the group of being a “rubber stamp for any vaccine” and claimed it was “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest.” Experts, however, noted that ACIP members are barred from holding stock in vaccine companies and must publicly disclose and recuse themselves from relevant votes. Kennedy’s move also breaks a pledge he made during confirmation to keep the committee intact, according to Sen. Bill Cassidy, who had backed him only after receiving that assurance. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC / New York Times / Washington Post / STAT News / Associated Press)

The midterm elections are in 512 days.

✏️ Notables.

  1. The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Department of Government Efficiency to access Social Security data on tens of millions of Americans, overriding lower court rulings that had blocked the move due over privacy concerns. The court said the agency “may proceed” to give DOGE access, despite a federal judge’s earlier finding that the administration had offered “little more than suspicion” to justify access to the data, which includes Social Security numbers, medical and mental health records, banking information, and school files. The justices also paused a separate order that would have required DOGE to turn over internal records in a transparency lawsuit. (New York Times / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press / CNN)

  2. Child and teen gun deaths increased in states that loosened gun laws after the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling limiting local control, according to a study in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers found 7,400 more deaths than expected over 13 years – mostly from homicides and suicides – while rates stayed flat or fell in states with stricter laws. “You’ve got an epidemic that’s really getting worse,” lead author Dr. Jeremy Faust said, while the NRA dismissed the study as “political propaganda.” (New York Times)

  3. Trump’s new travel ban took effect, blocking most immigration from 12 countries and adding restrictions on 7 more. Despite no clear evidence that the ban improves national security, the Trump administration cited “high visa overstay rates” and “failure to share identity and threat information.” The administration also didn’t explain why Egypt – where a recent visa overstayer was arrested for a violent attack – was excluded. The banned countries include Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, and Somalia; partial restrictions apply to Cuba, Venezuela, and Turkmenistan. (New York Times / Axios / Associated Press)

  4. ABC News suspended senior correspondent Terry Moran after he called White House aide Stephen Miller a “world-class hater,” who “eats his hate” and is “richly endowed with the capacity for hatred.” ABC said the post “violated our standards” and didn’t reflect the network’s values. Miller, meanwhile, responded by accusing the press of being “radicals adopting a journalist’s pose.” (CNN / New York Times / The Guardian / Axios)

  5. A federal appeals court ruled that Trump can exclude the Associated Press from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other restricted spaces, siding with the White House in a dispute over the AP’s refusal to rename the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America.” The 2-1 decision from the D.C. Circuit blocked a lower court’s order that had restored AP’s access, calling those areas “private workspaces” where the president has full discretion over press access. Trump, meanwhile, posted that it was a “Big WIN over AP today,” calling the outlet “FAKE NEWS.” (Bloomberg / CBS News / NBC News / The Hill / Politico)

  6. The White House is struggling to hire senior advisers to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after multiple aides quit or were forced out amid leaks, infighting, and an ongoing classified information probe. At least three candidates have declined job offers, and the White House has blocked others Hegseth tried to bring in. Aides to JD Vance and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles have had to step in to manage the fallout, which includes allegations that Hegseth leaked military plans in a Signal chat with his wife and lawyer. (NBC News)

  7. Five Proud Boys leaders who were pardoned by Trump sued the federal government for $100 million, claiming their Jan. 6 convictions amounted to “political persecution.” The lawsuit accuses the DOJ and FBI of violating their constitutional rights through tactics like “evidence tampering,” spying on legal teams, and solitary confinement. Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, Joseph Biggs, and Dominic Pezzola were convicted in 2023 of felonies, including seditious conspiracy, before Trump pardoned or released them in January. The lawsuit claims their prosecution is “the modern equivalent of placing one’s enemies’ heads on a spike.” Tarrio said they were “hostages of a lawless regime” and claimed, “I believe attorneys are going to do back flips trying to get J6ers on board.” (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Axios / Reuters / The Hill / USA Today / Rolling Stone / HuffPost)

Four years ago today: Day 141: "Frustrated."
Eight years ago today: Day 141: Complete vindication.