(WASHINGTON) — A fresh inflation report to be released on Wednesday will provide the latest test for President Donald Trump’s tariffs as some retailers and economists warn the policy will raise prices.
So far, the economy has defied fears of price hikes, instead giving way to a cooldown of inflation over the months since Trump took office.
Economists expect inflation to have jumped slightly in May, registering year-over-year price increases of 2.4%. That would mark an increase from an inflation rate of 2.3% over the year ending in April, which amounted to the lowest inflation level since 2021.
The small increase in inflation anticipated by economists would keep price levels near the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%, putting them well below a recent peak of 9% in 2022.
In recent weeks, Trump has dialed back some of his steepest tariffs, easing the costs imposed upon importers. Such companies typically pass along a share of the higher tax burden in the form of price hikes.
A trade agreement between the U.S. and China in May slashed tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two largest economies and triggered a surge in the stock market. Within days, Wall Street firms softened their forecasts of a downturn.
The U.S.-China accord came weeks after the White House paused a large swath of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs targeting dozens of countries. Trump also eased sector-specific tariffs targeting autos and rolled back duties on some goods from Mexico and Canada.
Still, an across-the-board 10% tariff applies to nearly all imports, except for semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and some other items. Those tariffs stand in legal limbo, however, after a pair of federal court rulings late last month.
Tariffs remain in place for steel, aluminum and autos, as well as some goods from Canada and Mexico.
Warning signs point to the possibility of elevated prices over the coming months.
Nationwide retailers like Walmart and Best Buy have voiced alarm about the possibility they may raise prices as a result of the levies.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, said this month it expects U.S. inflation to reach 4% by the end of 2025, which would mark a sharp increase from current levels.
Federal Chair Jerome Powell, in recent months, has warned about the possibility that tariffs may cause what economists call “stagflation,” which is when inflation rises and the economy slows.
Stagflation could put the central bank in a difficult position. If the Fed were to raise interest rates, it could help ease inflation, but it may risk an economic downturn. If the Fed were to cut rates in an effort to spur economic growth, the move could unleash faster price increases.
For now, the Fed appears willing to take a wait-and-see approach. At its last meeting, in May, the Fed opted to hold interest rates steady for the second consecutive time.
“For now, it does seem like a fairly clear decision for us to wait and see,” Powell said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., last month.
The Fed will announce its next rate decision on June 18. Investors peg the chances of a decision to leave rates unchanged at 99.9%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
(SAN ANTONIO) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he was deploying the Texas National Guard to multiple locations across the state to “ensure peace and order.”
The deployment comes ahead of planned protests this week in Texas, including on in San Antonio.
A statement from Abbott’s office obtained by ABC News’ affiliate KSAT confirmed the deployment, saying Guardsmen were ready to “uphold law and order across our state.”
“Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles,” Abbott’s office said in a statement. “Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be swiftly held accountable to the full extent of the law.”
Abbott’s move comes amid the escalating protests in Los Angeles, where activists have been protesting the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
The protests in Los Angeles have at times turned violent. And President Donald Trump ordered both the National Guard and the Marines to Southern California in recent days.
“Peaceful protest is legal,” Abbott said on Tuesday. “Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest.”
He said the Texas National Guard would “use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order.”
Assistant Chief of the San Antonio Police Department Jesse Salame also confirmed to KSAT that Guard members have been sent to San Antonio.
(LONDON, PARIS and BELGRADE) — Ten people are dead and at least a dozen are injured after a shooting on Tuesday at a high school in Graz, Austria, the city’s mayor said, adding that the alleged shooter is also dead.
Austrian state police confirmed the death toll, after earlier saying on social media that there had been several fatalities at the school, the BORG Dreierschützengasse.
Among the dead were three males and seven females, officials said.
At least 12 people were injured, some severely, officials said during a press conference on Tuesday. Of the ten victims who died, nine were students — aged 15 to 17 — and one was a teacher, police said. Those who were injured in the attack were all students, police said.
The shooter died by suicide in a bathroom in the school during the incident, a Styria police spokesperson said. One of the individuals severely injured, a female adult, died Tuesday evening, the University Hospital Graz confirmed to ABC News.
“Today is a day of sorrow and processing the dramatic incident,” Styria Gov. Mario Kunasek said at the press conference.
The suspect, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen and former student of the school who never graduated, acted alone, authorities said. The shooter used a long gun and a handgun, that were found at the scene and are now being investigated, a Styria police spokesperson said. The suspect — who was not employed at the time of the shooting — legally owned the two weapons used in the attack, officials said.
Police had “no prior police records on this individual,” Karner said. “There was no prior warning,” he added.
As of Tuesday evening, the reasoning behind the attack still remains unclear, police said. When officials were searching the premises of where the suspect lived, they found a farewell letter, but police did not mention a motive for the attack.
“The school shooting in Graz is a national tragedy that has deeply shocked our entire country,” Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said in a statement posted on social media.
He added, “Young people suddenly ripped from the lives they had ahead of them. There are no words for the pain and grief that all of us — all of Austria — are feeling right now.”
Officers responded after gunshots were heard at the school, the Styria State Police said in a message posted on social media, later adding, “The school was evacuated and all persons were brought to a safe meeting point.” The 300 officers who responded to the scene were able to secure the scene within 17 minutes, a Styria police spokesperson said.
When police originally arrived on the scene, one of the victims was found outside the school building, but still on the school grounds, while the rest were found inside, officials said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 40 people remain at the scene of the incident and there is support being provided for students and parents, Kunasek said.
Emergency vehicles, including Cobra tactical vehicles, had been deployed to the site, police said. Video shot near the scene showed a street lined with ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
Stocker declared a three-day national period of mourning, with a nationwide moment of silence for the victims at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, he said.
The city of Graz sits in southern Austria, in the Styria province. It’s the second-largest Austrian city by population, with about 300,000 residents.
Officials are expected to provide additional updates regarding the incident on Wednesday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to use “heavy force” against “any” protesters at the military parade being held in Washington this weekend.
“We’re going to celebrate big on Saturday,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office right after he spoke about sending the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to quell protests there. “If any protesters want to come out, they will be met with very big force.”
The parade to honor the Army’s 250th anniversary also falls on the president’s 79th birthday and comes just days after Trump ordered troops to Los Angeles to respond to protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
“People that want to protest will be met with big force,” he said, noting that he hadn’t heard of any plans to protest at the military parade in Washington yet. “But this is people that hate our country. They will be met with heavy force.”
ABC News reached out to the White House for comment on what kind of force Trump was referring to in his comments Tuesday.
Trump has touted the size and anticipated spectacle of the military parade, saying on Monday, “We have many tanks. We have all sorts of new ones and very old ones old from World War I and World War II,” and that the military and the U.S. roles in victories in World War I and World War II need to be celebrated as other countries do with their militaries.
“It’s going to be a parade, the likes of which I don’t know if we’ve ever had a parade like that. It’s going to be incredible,” he said, adding that “thousands and thousands of soldiers” will march through the streets in military garb from various eras of the U.S. military. “We have a lot of those army airplanes flying over the top, and we have tanks all over the place.”
Twenty-eight Abrams tanks, 28 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 28 Stryker vehicles, and four Paladin self-propelled howitzers will participate in the parade, as will eight marching bands, 24 horses, two mules and a dog.
Fifty aircraft will fly overhead as well.
The U.S. Secret Service and Washington officials said Monday they were tracking nine small protests but that they didn’t expect any violence.
“From a Secret Service perspective, it’s simply people using that first amendment right to protest because we’re not going to do anything with that,” said Matt McCool, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office. “But if that turns violent or any laws are broken, that’s when [the Metropolitan Police Department], Park Police, Secret Service will be involved.”
Still, the National Guard, including the District of Columbia National Guard and those from other states, will be activated but not armed.
Outside of Washington, progressive groups plan to hold protests against the Trump administration as the parade occurs, with the flagship “No Kings” protest occurring in Philadelphia.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty and Beatrice Peterson contributed to this report.
(SALINAS, Calif.) — The family of a 16-year-old track star is threatening to take legal action after the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) disqualified their daughter and stripped her of her gold medal after she celebrated her win in the state final by spraying her feet with a fire extinguisher – an homage to Olympic champion Maurice Green.
Clara Adams, a North Salinas High School sophomore, said that CIF officials told her that she was disqualified for “unsportsmanlike” behavior after the 400-meter state final and was prevented from standing on the podium to claim her number one spot or competing in the final race.
ABC News reached out to CIF representatives but requests for comment were not returned.
Adante Pointer, an attorney representing Clara Adams, told ABC News that the family is “certainly” planning on taking legal action if the CIF doesn’t reverse its decision.
“That was the championship, she would have been the fastest sprinter in the state of California – she is, she won, but she doesn’t have the title nor the medal,” Pointer said. “She’ll never have that moment.”
According to the CIF code of conduct on sportsmanship, student athletes are in part, not permitted to engage in or allow “taunting, boastful celebrations, or other actions that demean individuals or the sport.”
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors wrote a letter in support of Adams that the county is set to vote on Tuesday afternoon, urging CIF officials to reinstate her immediately.
“Clara’s celebration did not take place on the track itself, not was it directed at any of the competitors, the letter says, calling the punishment “disproportionate.”
Adams spoke out about the incident alongside members of the NAACP and her father, David, who is also her coach, during a press conference on Friday, saying that she was “crushed” by the CIF’s decision.
“I had to watch the girls get on the podium without me,” she said. “I had to watch somebody else get on the number one spot that I was supposed to stand on. And that wasn’t cool at all. That was wrong.”
Adams said that her father handed her the fire extinguisher after her win and instructed her to get off the field before spraying her feet in a nod to Greene, an iconic Olympian sprinter, who famously celebrated his 2004 Olympics win in the 100 meter race by taking off his shoes and having a teammate spray them with a fire extinguisher to put out the figurative fire on his feet.
Pointer said that Adams was “surprised” that she was punished because she was “paying homage to one of her icons.”
Greene, who spoke with ABC affiliate in Salinas, KSBW-TV, said he was happy to see Adams pay homage to him and suggested that she should be reinstated.
“When I heard, cause it happened, and then people just started calling me ‘This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration’ I was like huh? What?” Greene said. “If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.”
Johnson said Trump is “fully in his authority right now to do what he is doing” to “maintain order” — including deploying 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to Los Angeles as demonstrators clash with law enforcement amid the protests.
“President Trump has put his hand on the table and said ‘Not on my watch,’ and we applaud that so we’re standing with him,” Johnson said during a news conference.
Johnson would not weigh in on whether Newsom should be arrested — a suggestion Trump made Monday — but said Newsom should be “tarred and feathered.”
“Look, that’s not my lane. I’m not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested, but he ought to be tarred and feathered,” the speaker said.
Newsom fired back in a post on X: “Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700’s style forms of punishment. A fitting threat given the @GOP want to bring our country back to the 18th Century.”
The California governor responded to Trump’s arrest comment on Monday, calling it “an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
Johnson accused Newsom of focusing more on rebranding himself than protecting the state and its citizens.
“Do your job, man. That’s what I tell Gavin Newsom, do your job,” Johnson added. “Stop working on your rebranding and be a governor. Stand up for the rule of law. And he’s not doing that.”
Newsom has called the deployments by Trump “a blatant abuse of power” and sued the administration over the move.
Johnson took the opportunity to plug the House-passed tax and immigration bill, where negotiations are underway in the Senate. The immigration woes at the center of the Los Angeles protests can be remedied by the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that supports Trump’s legislative agenda, Johnson said. He called on Democrats to end the “chaos” and “nonsense” and support the bill.
The legislation boosts spending for the military and border security as well as extends the Trump 2017 tax cuts — while making some cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs. It could also add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Other congressional Republicans appear to be in lockstep behind Trump and his decision to deploy National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles.
“… What [Trump’s] doing [is] enforcing the rule of law,” Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said, adding that “Trump’s doing the right things.”
Republican Rep. Ron Estes said he supports Trump’s decision and said he believes “it’s important that we have the rule of law and order in the United States.”
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said that he supported Trump’s decision to deploy the Marines, saying he hopes their presence “deters” people from violence and brings “peace.”
“Hopefully their presence will be a deterrent to violence. Obviously, there’s a right to assemble, and there’s a right to peacefully protest — and then there’s what they’re doing. So clearly, the state needs help, and the president’s sending help, hopefully, hopefully it’ll bring some peace,” Cramer said.
Cramer said that Trump, as the president and therefore the authority on federal immigration policy, has a “responsibility” to act in response to the protests.
“The president has a responsibility to the United States, and he has a federal nexus with regard to immigration policy, and he’s exercising it, and I think he’s exercising exactly what he said he’d do and what people elected him to do,” Cramer said.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy backed Trump’s decision to deploy the troops.
“I think he didn’t have a choice,” Kennedy told ABC News of Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard and Marines.
“I think he needs to follow the law, but I think he needs to send in federal troops because it’s clear to me the governor and the mayor were going to do nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. He might have met with the rioters and offered them a cup of hot cocoa and a hug and some enthusiastic encouragement, but in terms of containing the riots, they weren’t going to do anything.”
Several Republican senators were quick to criticize Newsom, too.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said he thought Newsom “probably would love it” if there were an effort to arrest him.
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic lawmakers will submit a bill in the Senate on Tuesday that would reverse the Pentagon’s new ban on transgender military service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria who now face being forced out if they had not previously self-identified as transgender.
The “Fit to Serve Act” would prohibit the Defense Department from banning transgender service members from serving in the military. If passed, the law would prevent the Defense Department from denying access to healthcare on the basis of gender identity, and it would also prohibit the military from forcing service members to serve in their sex assigned at birth.
It would also make it illegal for the military to discriminate against service members on the basis of gender identity.
The Defense Department’s policy was required by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office that banned transgender individuals from serving in the military. In outlining the policy in a memo issued in late February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote that ” individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.”
“We recruit and train the best and bravest to protect our country — losing highly qualified service members, who meet strict standards to join the military, makes us less safe,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is the lead sponsor of the bill that is being filed in the Senate on Tuesday, which was first announced last month.
“By prohibiting this discrimination on the basis of gender identity, this legislation will help to ensure transgender individuals who are qualified to serve may do so” said Sen. Marie Hirono, D-Hawaii, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
Under the Pentagon’s new policy, transgender service members had until June 6 to self-identify and begin the process of voluntary separation. With the passing of that deadline, the Pentagon has begun a process of involuntary separation of service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria, which is defined as “psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity.”
Ahead of that deadline, the Pentagon said more than 1,000 service members had self-identified as having been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. It is unclear whether that number increased ahead of the deadline or how officials had reached that estimate.
National Guard and Reserve service members have until July 7 to self-identify for voluntary separation.
The Pentagon’s new ban went into effect in early May shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could enforce the ban on transgender people in the military while legal challenges to the ban proceed in lower courts.
Navy Cmdr. Emily Shilling, who is a lead plaintiff in one of the legal challenges, told ABC News that she has chosen to voluntarily separate.
“Yes I am ‘volunteering’ to retire but I do want to make it clear that myself and most others I have spoken to in SPARTA feel it is under duress,” said Shilling who is the president of Sparta Pride, an organization advocating for 2,400 transgender people in the military.
“For me, it’s the only way I believe I can continue to uphold my oath,” said Shilling. “I’m stepping away from active duty service, but not service to my country. My fight is only beginning.”
Defense officials have said that as of last December, about 4,240 current active-duty, Guard and Reserve service members had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
There are more than 2.1 million military service members serving on active-duty, Guard and the Reserves. Advocacy groups have put the actual number of transgender service members as being much higher, at around 15,000.
Since 2014, the total number of diagnoses for gender dysphoria among service members was 5,773, with 1,000 of those having gone through gender-affirming surgery, according to a defense official. The total costs for treatments, hormones and surgeries during that time frame was $52 million, said the official.
With the end of the voluntary separation period, transgender service members now face what could be a lengthy process that could end with their separation from military service.
The process will begin with military commanders being told to identify people in their units who have a diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria. Once they have done that, a referral to an annual health checkup will be initiated, beginning what could be a lengthy process that could lead to their removal from the military.
Pentagon officials have said those evaluations will be conducted during regularly scheduled annual physicals meaning it could be months before they take place.
The Pentagon incentivized service members with gender dysphoria to voluntarily separate ahead of the June 6 deadline by offering benefit payment packages that would be more than double what would be received if they were to separate involuntarily. Those who voluntarily separated would not have to risk paying back the recruitment or retention bonuses they may have earned during their military service.
The Democratic senators argue that instead of improving military readiness the implementation of the ban will have the opposite effect.
“This ban undermines our military readiness and national security by removing thousands of talented, experienced service members and signaling to potential recruits that the military does not respect them, their colleagues, their family, or their friends simply because of who they are,” said a description of the Fit to Serve Act. “It also wastes billions of taxpayer dollars invested in training these troops to become leaders to keep all of us safe.”
The bill is co-sponsored in the Senate by Warren, Hirono, Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), Ed Markey (Massachusetts), Ron Wyden (Oregon), Jeff Merkley (Oregon),John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Andy Kim (New Jersey), and Cory Booker (New Jersey). Congressmen Adam Smith (Washington) Mark Takano (California), Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania), Sara Jacobs (California), and Eric Sorensen (Illinois) are sponsoring the legislation in the House of Representatives.
“By prohibiting this discrimination on the basis of gender identity, this legislation will help to ensure transgender individuals who are qualified to serve may do so,” Hirono said.
It remains to be seen how much bipartisan support the legislation could gain and whether it will be able to clear Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House.
“If you are willing to risk your life for our country and you can do the job, it shouldn’t matter if you are gay, straight, transgender, Black, white or anything else,” said Duckworth who added that the ban “is disruptive to our military, hurts readiness and not only does nothing to strengthen our national security — it actively makes things worse.”
“The Fit to Serve Act is a declaration that we will not stand by while our courageous troops are under political assault. Transgender service members meet the same rigorous standards, deploy worldwide, put in the same hard work and demonstrate the same dedication as any of their colleagues” said Jennifer Pike Bailey, Government Affairs Director of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the advocacy groups supporting the legislation.
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are taking away their jobs, cutting off their health care benefits, and disregarding the immense sacrifices these service members and their families have made. It’s a slap in the face to all who serve and puts our military readiness at risk,” she added.
“At a time when the United States faces growing threats around the world, banning them from the All-Volunteer Force will make Americans less safe,” said Luke Schleusener, CEO of Out in National Security.
“This legislation underscores that the fight to honor the service of thousands of transgender Americans in uniform — and to strengthen America’s national security — is far from over.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration says it will appeal a court order requiring it to allow hundreds of noncitizens who were deported in March to El Salvador to challenge their detentions.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg last week ordered the Trump administration to give the hundreds of men deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act the right to challenge their detentions as unlawful.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal Tuesday, signaling plans to challenge a lower court’s decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The Trump administration touched off a legal battle in March when it invoked the Alien Enemies Act — an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process — to deport two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
An official with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acknowledged that “many” of the men deported on March 15 lack criminal records in the United States — but said that “the lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose” and “demonstrates that they are terrorists with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson slammed Boasberg’s decision last week, saying in a statement that Boasberg lacks the authority to intervene in the deportations.
“Judge Boasberg has no authority to intervene with immigration or national security — authority that rests squarely with President Trump and the Executive Branch. His current and previous attempts to prevent President Trump from deporting criminal illegal aliens poses a direct threat to the safety of the American people,” Jackson said, referring to other recent rulings by the judge.
“Fortunately for the American people, Judge Boasberg does not have the last word,” Jackson said.
Boasberg, in last week’s ruling, said that the detainees — regardless of their alleged criminal status — deserve the right to challenge the government’s claims against them.
(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is testifying before a House panel on Tuesday, his first time on Capitol Hill since being sworn in five months ago and as questions swirl about the deployment of troops to Los Angeles as part of an immigration crackdown.
Hegseth is appearing before the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and acting Pentagon Comptroller Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell to discuss the administration’s upcoming 2026 budget request.
During the hearing, Hegseth is widely expected to dodge many of the specifics on the military’s spending blueprint, which has not been released, and instead highlight recent gains in recruiting numbers and new technology initiatives in the Army.
But overshadowing much of his testimony will be the Pentagon’s decision to send some 4,800 troops, including 700 Marines, to Los Angeles following several days of clashes between protesters and law enforcement there. The troops, known as Task Force 51, are being called under a law known as Title 10, which allows the president to send military forces to protect federal property and personnel.
Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps, is scheduled to testify separately Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
On the eve of Hegseth’s testimony, Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, accused President Donald Trump of deliberately escalating the situation in Los Angeles by pushing for military reinforcements not requested by California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. She called the decision to send Marines in particular “outrageous.”
“The active duty military has absolutely no legal role in domestic law enforcement. President Trump and Secretary Hegseth should read the Constitution and follow the law,” she said.
The Pentagon has not had a news conference since the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, referring reporters with questions about the mission to Hegseth’s posts on X.
On X, Hegseth said the troops were needed to protect federal immigration officers and detention buildings.
“There is plenty of room for peaceful protest, but ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job. The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,” Hegseth said in a statement.
U.S. officials said the troops would carry guns and ammunition separately for use only in self-defense and to protect federal property. They would not patrol the streets or help law enforcement arrest protesters, the officials said.
Unclear is whether Trump is preparing to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that says the president can call on a militia or the U.S. armed forces if there’s been “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy” in a state that “opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”
On his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump referred to the L.A. protesters as “violent, insurrectionist mobs” and “paid insurrectionists.”
When asked if Hegseth had spoken with President Donald Trump on Monday, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told ABC News, “the secretary is in regular contact with the president regarding the National Guard presence in Los Angeles.”
Following his testimony, Hegseth is expected to travel with the president to Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday to participate in activities tied to the Army’s 250th birthday celebration.
Under Hegseth, the military has taken over control of hundreds of miles along the U.S. southern border with Mexico in an effort to tamp down unauthorized entry by migrants. He’s also eliminated programs aimed at increasing diversity among military personnel, slashed the number of general officers and initiated efforts to build a $175 billion U.S. missile defense shield.
At the same time, Hegseth also faces reports of dysfunction and infighting among his personal staff at the Pentagon. Since his Jan. 25 swearing in, Hegseth has fired or sidelined several of his own top political advisers and he’s gone without a chief of staff since April.
Tuesday’s hearing also would be Hegseth’s first appearance since revelations that he relied on a commercial messaging app known as Signal to relay details about a pending military attack to other high-ranking officials and others, including his wife. Hegseth’s use of Signal is now under internal investigation by the Defense Department’s inspector general.
(MADISONVILLVE, La.) — A Louisiana dad has been arrested for second-degree murder after he allegedly left his 1-year-old daughter in a hot car for over nine hours, authorities said.
The incident unfolded after Joseph Boatman “consumed multiple alcoholic beverages” and then went to pick up his 21-month-old daughter from a relative’s house shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sunday, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Boatman, 32, allegedly strapped his daughter into her car seat, went inside the Madisonville home and didn’t return to the car, the sheriff’s office said.
More than nine hours later, deputies were sent to the house after a family member found the toddler unresponsive in the car, authorities said.
The temperature in Madisonville climbed to 95 degrees on Sunday; the heat index — what temperature it feels like — reached 105 degrees.
“This is a devastating loss that no family ever wants to face,” Sheriff Randy Smith said in a statement. “When a child is left in a vehicle, especially on a day when the heat index climbs over 100 degrees, the outcome can turn deadly in a matter of minutes. This case involved compromised judgment, and the result was heartbreaking.”
The girl is the fifth child to die in a hot car in the U.S. this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.
On average, 38 children die in hot cars every year in the U.S. About 88% of them are 3 years old or younger, KidsAndCars.org said.
Click here for hot car safety tips to keep in mind this summer.
