Senate to Question Military Leaders    12/11 06:05

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senators for the first time are poised to question 
military leaders over President Donald Trump's use of the National Guard in 
American cities, an extraordinary move that has prompted legal challenges as 
well as questions about states' rights and the use of the military on U.S. soil.

   The hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee is expected 
to feature tough questioning for Pentagon leaders over the legality of the 
deployments, which in some places were done over the objections of mayors and 
governors.

   The hearing will bring the highest level of scrutiny to Trump's use of the 
National Guard outside of a courtroom since the deployments began and comes a 
day after the president faced another legal setback over his muscular use of 
troops in larger federal operations.

   Trump has justified the use of the military in American cities by saying the 
National Guard is needed to support federal law enforcement, protect federal 
facilities and combat crime.

   Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said she had threatened to hold up 
the annual defense bill if Republican leadership continued to block the 
hearing, which she said is long overdue.

   "Donald Trump is illegally deploying our nation's service members under 
misleading if not false pretexts," Duckworth told The Associated Press.

   Duckworth, a combat veteran who served in the Illinois National Guard, said 
domestic deployments have traditionally involved responding to major floods and 
tornadoes, not assisting immigration agents who are detaining people in 
aggressive raids.

   Duckworth said she has questions for the military about how Trump's 
deployments are affecting readiness, training and costs. She also wants to know 
if Guard members will have legal protections if an immigration agent wrongfully 
harms a civilian.

   "I'm deeply concerned that our nation's military is being put in jeopardy by 
these policies," Duckworth said.

   The hearing comes two weeks after two West Virginia National Guard members 
deployed to Washington were shot just blocks from the White House in what the 
city's mayor described as a targeted attack. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom died a day 
after the Nov. 26 shooting, and her funeral took place Tuesday. Staff Sgt. 
Andrew Wolfe is still hospitalized in Washington.

   Meanwhile, a federal judge in California on Wednesday ruled that the Trump 
administration must stop deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles 
and return control of the troops to the state.

   U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco granted a preliminary 
injunction sought by California officials, but also put the decision on hold 
until Monday. The White House said it plans to appeal.

   Trump called up more than 4,000 California National Guard troops in June 
without Gov. Gavin Newsom's approval to further the Trump administration's 
immigration enforcement efforts.

   The move was the first time in decades that a state's National Guard was 
activated without a request from its governor and marked a significant 
escalation in the administration's efforts to carry out its mass deportation 
policy. The troops were stationed outside a federal detention center in 
downtown Los Angeles where protesters gathered and later sent on the streets to 
protect immigration officers as they made arrests.

   The number had dropped to several hundred by late October. The 100 or so 
California troops that remain in Los Angeles are guarding federal buildings or 
staying at a nearby base and are not on the streets with immigration 
enforcement officers, according to U.S. Northern Command.

   Trump also had announced National Guard members would be sent to Washington, 
D.C., Illinois, Oregon, Louisiana and Tennessee. Other judges have blocked or 
limited the deployment of troops to Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, while Guard 
members have not yet been sent to New Orleans.