The Latest: Congress clashes at hearings over Guard deployments, immigrant arrests

Senators clashed Thursday over President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in American cities, with Republicans defending the deployments as necessary to fight lawlessness and Democrats calling it an extraordinary abuse of military power that violates states’ rights.

The questioning of military officials before the Senate Armed Services Committee was the highest level of scrutiny, outside a courtroom, of Trump ‘s use of the National Guard in U.S. cities since the deployments began.

Meanwhile, in a separate hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was accused by House Democrats of habitually lying about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. The hearings came a day after the president faced another legal setback over efforts to send troops into U.S. cities against the objections of state and local officials.

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Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Illinois, accused Noem’s department of waging an “unaccountable, unlawful, unconstitutional” war against communities across the country.

Ramirez showed a number of videos of Noem talking and then repeatedly accused her of lying.

“Secretary Noem, you lie and you lie to the American people,” Ramirez said.

In one video, Noem said the agency focused on people in the country illegally, not American citizens while in another Noem said they were focusing on the “worst of the worst.”

Ramirez disputed those characterizations and said Noem lied with “impunity.”

The Senate has rejected a Republican bill to replace expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies with new health savings accounts. The legislation was a Republican alternative to Democratic legislation to extend the subsidies for three years.

Senators are now voting on the Democratic bill and are expected to reject it – meaning that the subsidies are likely to expire.

Noem defended the cancelation of billions of dollars in mitigation grants administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, saying the grants had been “weaponized to fund the Green New Deal and for climate change.”

The Trump administration in April canceled $3.6 billion in grants under the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, created under the first Trump administration to help communities harden infrastructure to mitigate damage from climate disasters.

Noem said FEMA is “deploying resources two times faster on average, than in history,” though a policy that she personally approve DHS expenditures of $100,000 or more has been widely criticized for slowing deployment of FEMA services and dollars.

Secretary Noem has left the hearing early.

Noem said she had to go to another meeting of a council that is offering suggestions on how to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

As she walked out, Julie Johnson, a Democrat from Texas who was slated to question the secretary next, joked: “I’m just going to take the position that she was scared of my questions.”

As Noem walked out of the room, protesters trailed her down the hallway yelling “Shame on you!”

But Trump administration officials declined to make commitments on what authorities the president may use in the future to send National Guard troops from one state to another.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, used the closing moments of the hearing to press the officials on whether National Guard troops will be deployed from other states beyond their current authority to protect federal facilities and officials, such as to conduct law enforcement activity.

Federal judges have blocked or limited troop deployments in Oregon, Illinois and California as the Trump administration has attempted to use troops to assist in its mass deportation goals.

Mark Ditlevson, a Trump administration official who oversees homeland defense, only said that any orders would be evaluated to make sure they are “100% legal.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed solidarity with Maduro and told him “direct communication channels” between the countries “remain permanently open,” a Venezuelan government statement said.

Talking a day after the U.S. military seized an oil tanker off the Venezuela’s coast, Putin told Maduro that “Russia will continue to support Venezuela in its struggle to assert its sovereignty, international law, and peace throughout Latin America, making its diplomatic capabilities available to strengthen cooperation in these essential areas,” the Venezuelan government said.

The Kremlin said both leaders also discussed developing friendly bilateral ties and their commitment to joint projects in trade, economic, energy, financial, cultural, humanitarian, and other areas.

The Senate is voting on Republican legislation that would create new health savings accounts as health care subsidies for millions of Americans are set to expire Jan. 1.

The Senate is expected to reject the legislation, along with a second Democratic bill that would extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Republicans say the savings accounts would replace the subsidies by giving money directly to consumers, instead of to insurance companies. Democrats say the GOP plan would lead to higher costs for consumers.

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned that premiums will skyrocket unless Congress passes an extension of the subsidies. “If Republicans don’t climb aboard, there won’t be another chance to act,” Schumer said ahead of the votes.

Noem linked the seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast to the Trump administration’s efforts to push back on “a regime that is systematically … flooding our country with deadly drugs.” She said Trump administration officials had seized “enough lethal doses of cocaine to kill 177 million Americans.”

On Wednesday, Trump said the United States had seized the tanker as tensions mount with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has broadly justified a regional military buildup and a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean as necessary to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the U.S.

House Democratic identified members of the audience they said had family members who had been improperly treated by the immigration system.

Noem said she would review the cases of several called out by Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island. One, a combat veteran, appeared on a screen via a video call. Magaziner said the Purple Heart recipient had been deported earlier this year.

“You don’t seem to know how to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys,” Magaziner said to Noem.

Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy split more than 5,000 children from their families at the Mexico border during his first term, when images of babies and toddlers taken from the arms of mothers sparked global condemnation. Seven years later, families are being separated but in a much different way.

With illegal border crossings at their lowest levels in seven decades, a push for mass deportations is dividing families of mixed legal status inside the U.S. Federal officials and their local law enforcement partners are detaining tens of thousands of asylum-seekers and migrants. Detainees are moved repeatedly, then deported, or held in poor conditions for weeks or months before asking to go home.

The federal government was holding an average of more than 66,000 people in November, the highest on record.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Thursday that “decisive” actions by the United States, including the seizure of an oil tanker, have left the repressive government of President Nicolás Maduro at its weakest point, and she vowed to return to the country to keep fighting for democracy.

Machado’s statements to reporters came hours after she appeared in public for the first time in 11 months, following her arrival in Norway’s capital, Oslo, where her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize award on her behalf on Wednesday.

Trump’s actions “have been decisive to reach where we are now, where the regime is significantly weaker,” she said. “Because before, the regime thought it had impunity …. Now they start to understand that this is serious, and that the world is watching.”

Machado sidestepped questions on whether a U.S. military intervention is necessary to remove Maduro from power

Thompson repeatedly asked Michael Glasheen, operations director of the national security branch of the FBI, about how the Trump administration came to classify the decentralized antifa movement as a domestic terrorist organization. He asked for details on where the group is headquartered, and how many people are involved.

Trump announced he had made that designation earlier this year, in a crackdown on leftists after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Glasheen said officials were “building out the infrastructure” to investigate the group but offered no details as Thompson doubled down.

The hearing quickly became heated over the tragic shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

Thompson had begun questioning Noem over what he called the “unfortunate accident” when the secretary interrupted the ranking Democrat.

“Unfortunate accident?” Noem retorted. She called it a “terrorist attack.”

The interaction devolved from there as Thompson questioned her department’s approval of asylum claim that allowed the suspect to stay in the U.S.

Noem insisted it was the Biden administration’s vetting process that failed to properly screen the man who had worked alongside the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee zeroed in Thursday on Trump’s statements that an “invasion within” or an “enemy within” justifies his guard deployments.

Gen. Gregory Guillot, who leads the military’s Northern Command, said “I do not have any indications of an enemy within.”

Charles Young, principal deputy general counsel for the Defense Department, said the Supreme Court has ruled that the president has the exclusive authority to decide whether an emergency exists.

Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL officer, argued during a Senate hearing that transnational crimes present enough of a risk to national security to justify military action, including on U.S. soil.

Sheehy claimed that there are foreign powers “actively attacking this country, using illegal immigration, using transnational crime, using drugs to do so.”

Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot agreed with Sheehy’s assessment.

An attorney for the Pentagon declined to offer a clear answer when asked if a president could lawfully order the military to shoot protesters.

During a hearing Thursday on National Guard deployments in U.S. cities, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, noted that former Defense Secretary Mark Esper alleged that Trump inquired about shooting protesters during the George Floyd demonstrations.

Hirono asked Charles L. Young III, principal deputy general counsel at the defense department, whether a presidential order to shoot protesters would be lawful.

Young said he was unaware of Trump’s comments and responded that the answer “would depend on the circumstances.”

“We have a president who doesn’t think the rule of law applies to him,” Hirono said in response.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must release Abrego Garcia from custody immediately.

“Since Abrego Garcia’s return from wrongful detention in El Salvador, he has been re-detained, again without lawful authority,” the judge wrote. “For this reason, the Court will GRANT Abrego Garcia’s Petition for immediate release from ICE custody.”

The Salvadoran national has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he originally immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. An immigration judge in 2019 ruled Abrego Garcia could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family. When Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported there in March, his case became a rallying point for those who oppose Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The secretary also levied broad criticism of the program that brought the man to the United States years before he allegedly shot two National Guard members.

Operation Allies Welcome was created by the Biden administration to safe Afghan supporters from Taliban retribution after the U.S. military pullout from Afghanistan following 20 years of American intervention and billions of dollars of aid.

Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, was killed in the Washington shooting. Noem said Thursday that U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, has been showing improvement.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was also shot during the confrontation, has been charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty.

The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, questioned Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, the commander of U.S. troops in North America, on how he evaluates the lawfulness of orders.

Guillot said that he consults with military attorneys, raises any questions with the defense secretary and commanding military officers, and executes the order once he’s confident in its lawfulness.

This has become a pressing question under the Trump administration amid National Guard deployments to U.S. cities and a campaign to strike boats allegedly carrying drugs near Venezuela. The president has targeted Democratic lawmakers who released a video urging military and intelligence officers to refuse illegal orders.

“End deportations!” shouts one. “Stop ICE raids!” yells another.

The two people were escorted by Capitol Police out of the Homeland Security Committee hearing room.

Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., gaveled the panel back to order as Noem resumed her opening remarks.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, told the secretary she has diverted vast resources to carry out Trump’s “extreme” immigration agenda, and failed to provide basic responses to oversight questions from Congress.

“I call on you to resign,” the Mississippi congressman said. “Do a real service to the country.”

Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, the commander of U.S. troops in North America, told senators that National Guard troops are instructed not to perform many law enforcement activities like making arrests or searching for evidence of a crime. However, the troops are allowed to detain people if they deem the person to be putting others at risk.

Guillot said that one person was detained as part of Trump’s campaign to deploy National Guard troops to U.S. cities. The person was detained in June outside a federal facility in Los Angeles.

“Stop terrorizing our communities,” one person shouted as the secretary entered.

Noem greeted some others in the audience.

One protester was singing the song from Star Wars that had been used to follow law enforcement officers as the agency conducts mass immigration raids and patrols city streets.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to face fierce questioning from Democrats Thursday as the public face of the Republican administration’s hard-line approach to immigration.

Since Noem last appeared in Congress in May, immigration enforcement operations in U.S. cities have become increasingly contentious, with federal agents and activists frequently clashing over her department’s tactics.

Noem is testifying in front of the House Committee on Homeland Security to discuss “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland,” which in years past have focused on issues such as cybersecurity, terrorism, China and border security. Thursday’s appearance is likely to focus heavily on immigration.

This hearing is 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.

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.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said Trump’s deployment of the National Guard into American cities is “deeply unpopular.”

“Most Americans don’t want this,” she said at a the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, adding that most of the guard members don’t want these assignments, either.

“Our heroes did not sign up for this,” said Duckworth, a combat veteran who served in the Illinois National Guard.

She noted that she had threatened to hold up the annual defense bill if Republican leadership continued to block the hearing, which she said is long overdue. She said she has questions for the military about how Trump’s deployments are affecting readiness, training and costs.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is opening a hearing on Trump’s National Guard troop deployment to U.S. cities by asserting that crime is on the rise.

“In recent years, violent crime, rioting, drug trafficking and heinous gang activity have steadily escalated,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican.

He added that the troop deployments are “not only appropriate, but essential.”

Democrats are expected to use the hearing to criticize the deployments as an inappropriate use of military troops.