Tag Archives: Sean Parnell

Associated Press: Live updates on the LA protests: Trump authorizes the deployment of additional 2,000 National Guard members

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President Donald Trump has authorized the deployment of an additional 2,000 National Guard members to respond to immigration protests in Los Angeles, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokesman. The latest order brings the total number of Guard put on federal orders for the protests to more than 4,100.

The news comes hours after the Pentagon deployed about 700 Marines to the protests to the city.

  • Marines deployed: The troops will be used to protect federal property and personnel, including immigration agents, and are prohibited from performing law enforcement duties under the Posse Comitatus Act. The Pentagon is drafting guidelines that will explain to the Marines what they can and cannot do, a U.S. official said.
  • California sues Trump: The state sued the president over his deployment of the Guard troops as growing numbers of demonstrators took to the city’s streets for a fourth day. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit by telling reporters that Trump had “trampled” the state’s sovereignty.
  • Trump threatens to arrest Newsom: “I would do it if I were Tom. I think it’s great,” Trump said, referencing Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, who warned that anyone, including public officials, would be arrested if they obstructed federal immigration enforcement. “Come after me, arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy,” Newsom said in response.
Live updates on the LA protests: Trump authorizes the deployment of additional 2,000 National Guard members
President Donald Trump has authorized the deployment of 2,000 more National Guard members in addition to 700 Marines responding to immigration protests in Los Angeles.

https://apnews.com/live/immigration-protests-los-angeles

Daily Beast: Pentagon Reporter Calls Out Hegseth on Fox News Over Media Crackdown: ‘He’s Embarrassed’

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A veteran Pentagon correspondent used a Fox News appearance to savage Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for attempting to restrict media access at his department.

Barbara Starr, who spent more than 20 years as CNN’s Pentagon correspondent, claimed Hegseth is ending journalists’ access to certain areas at the Pentagon because he’s “embarrassed” by the chaos engulfing his time in the Trump administration.

“Hegseth is embarrassed,” Starr said on Fox’s MediaBuzz Sunday. “He’s embarrassed by this—so much exposure to information, classified by all accounts, that he posted on Signal about that air attack in Yemen. He’s embarrassed that information came out that he was going to meet with Elon Musk and brief him on China.”

Pentagon Reporter Calls Out Hegseth on Fox News Over Media Crackdown: ‘He’s Embarrassed’
Barbara Starr says the defense secretary should be more focused on other areas other than his “PR structure.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-reporter-barbara-starr-calls-out-hegseth-on-fox-news-over-media-crackdown-hes-embarrassed

Daily Beast: Pentagon Shuts Down Musk’s ‘What Did You Do Last Week’ Emails

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As the DOGE boss departs, staff have been told to come up with their ideas to cut waste and boost efficiency.

The Pentagon has ended Elon Musk’s directive for federal workers to provide a list of five of their accomplishments every week as it distances itself from one of DOGE’s most contentious policies.

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Democrat Congressman Joe Courtney, a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said it was about time the department scrapped the policy.

“Good riddance,” he told the Daily Beast.

“For months, dedicated Defense Department civilians received Elon Musk’s insulting ‘five things’ emails. Many of these people served in the military, are highly trained and experienced, and are doing this job because they actually care about the mission.

“And yet, they were being constantly pummeled with these communications from DOGE questioning their dedication and the value of their work.”

Pentagon Shuts Down Musk’s ‘What Did You Do Last Week’ Emails
As the DOGE boss departs, staff have been told to come up with their ideas to cut waste and boost efficiency.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-shuts-down-musks-what-did-you-do-last-week-emails

Independent: Inside Pete Hegseth’s chaotic inner circle as report says defense secretary’s team in ‘cold war’

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Questions raised over long-term viability of embattled head of Pentagon as two senior advisers said to be at loggerheads

The Pentagon is reportedly in the grip of a new Cold War, and it has nothing to do with Russia.

A rift between two senior advisers to Pete Hegseth has led to a wider schism at the department, fueling speculation about the long-term prospects of the embattled defense secretary as a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

Numerous people familiar with the matter told the paper that claims of departmental unity are belied by continued dysfunction behind the scenes, stemming from personality conflicts, lack of experience, ongoing vacancies in important roles, and paranoia over what political crisis could erupt next.

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Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution, described the most combustible relationship as that between two Hegseth aides, Eric Geressy and Ricky Buria.

They claim that Geressy, a retired soldier whom Hegseth has credited with mentoring him during their service in Iraq, has expressed ongoing concerns that Buria, until recently a military assistant to the defense secretary and now his acting chief of staff, has attempted to marginalize colleagues to enhance his own standing within the Trump administration.

Amidst the fallout from the Signalgate scandal in March, tensions between the two are said to have boiled over when Geressy found out he was excluded from meetings during a trip across the Pacific by Hegseth and blamed Buria.

Geressy also voiced concern about how many administration officials were using Signal and told staffers that the White House had a dim view of Buria, seeing him as self-important.

…

Click on the link below to read the entire article:

Inside Pete Hegseth’s chaotic inner circle as defense secretary’s team in ‘cold war’
Questions raised over long-term viability of embattled head of Pentagon as two senior advisers said to be at loggerheads

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/hegseth-pentagon-chaos-defense-trump-b2758627.html

Associated Press: Defense Secretary Hegseth, bedeviled by leaks, orders more restrictions on press at Pentagon

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Bedeviled by leaks to the media during his short tenure, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a series of restrictions on the press late Friday that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort — areas where the press has had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of the world’s most powerful military.

Newly restricted areas include his office and those of his top aides and all of the different locations across the mammoth building where the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Force maintain press offices.

The media will also be barred from offices of the Pentagon’s senior military leadership, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, without Hegseth’s approval and an escort from his aides. The staff of the Joint Chiefs has traditionally maintained a good relationship with the press.

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Step out of line, the men come and take you away

Defense Secretary Hegseth, bedeviled by leaks, orders more restrictions on press at Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered further restrictions on how the press operates at the Pentagon.

https://apnews.com/article/military-pentagon-hegseth-press-access-ff9ed0431848cae8816108a8b19c640f

MSNBC: Trump admin accepts jet from Qatar, ignoring legal restrictions and bipartisan pushback

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Team Trump’s decision to accept the Qatari “gift” doesn’t end the controversy; it starts the controversy.

The Times’ report added that the Defense Department “has not given an estimate of when the work on the Qatari plane might be done, even though Mr. Trump and the White House have made clear the president wants it soon, perhaps even by the end of the year.”

What the president “wants” is likely to prove irrelevant: NBC News recently reported that converting the luxury jet will “take years to complete.”

Indeed, it’s worth emphasizing that the administration’s decision to accept the Qatari “gift” doesn’t end the controversy; it starts the controversy.

Now that this plan is moving forward, the president and his White House team should prepare for a series of questions for which there are no easy answers. Where will Trump find the money to pay for this “free” plane? Why does he keep pretending that this “gift” isn’t for him personally, even after he’s publicly suggested otherwise? How does Trump intend to overcome the seemingly obvious fact that the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause still exists, and it appears to prohibit exactly this kind of arrangement?

Why was Attorney General Pam Bondi involved in approving this process after having served as a paid registered lobbyist for Qatar? How does Trump plan to explain away his earlier condemnations of presidents accepting foreign gifts? Why is the president apparently indifferent to the fact that even many of his Republican allies have expressed opposition to this idea? Will Congress have any role in approving the transfer, as is required for such gestures of international generosity?

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-admin-accepts-jet-qatar-ignoring-legal-restrictions-bipartisan-p-rcna208306

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: ‘Anti-Woke’ Order: Military Members Face Self-Separation Deadline

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Transgender service members in the military have a 30 to 60-day deadline to self-separate after a court order reinstated a ban on their service. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that about 1,000 service members with gender dysphoria are starting the voluntary separation process. Active-duty personnel must separate by June 6, while reservists have until July 7 to comply with the new policy.

Despite the deadline, there are ongoing legal challenges and court orders. There could be further judicial interventions that alters the timeline.

‘Anti-Woke’ Order: Military Members Face Self-Separation Deadline
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/anti-woke-order-military-members-face-self-separation-deadline/ss-AA1F1SU0

The Dispatch: Trump’s Team of Losers

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The president has hired lots of people who couldn’t win their own elections.

He’s not alone. Hegseth is only one member of the second Trump administration to have been plucked from the pantheon of electoral duds and given a second lease on political life. From the Cabinet all the way to high-profile White House aides, there are failed candidates for major office who might have otherwise toiled for years in obscurity or, even worse, local politics if not for Trump’s magnanimity. Contrary to the president’s boasted affection for winners, it’s loyalty to Trump, sometimes even in the face of defeat, that remains the most valuable characteristic for a Republican looking to get ahead these days. Even the losers.

…

So the pathway for aspiring MAGA politicians is clear: in order to get the Trump administration imprimatur to win a future race for office, try losing one first.

Trump’s Team of Losers
The president has hired lots of people who couldn’t win their own elections.
Trump’s Team of Losers

Newsweek: Fired Pentagon Official Says He’s ‘Not Sure’ if Pete Hegseth Is OK

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Colin Carroll, a former top Pentagon official, said in an interview over the weekend that he’s “not sure” if Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is OK.

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Carroll described Hegseth’s leadership as “a tale of two Petes.” He praised the defense secretary’s ability to convince the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus to increase defense spending but criticized Hegseth’s fixation with “weird details” and tendency to get “very agitated” during meetings.

“He was very focused on the leaks and I think it kind of consumed the team a little bit,” Carroll told Kelly. “If you look at a pie chart of the secretary’s day, at this point, 50 percent of it is probably a leak investigation.”

Carroll was also asked about Hegseth’s contention in a recent interview when he said “disgruntled former employees are peddling things to try to save their a**.” Carroll told Kelly he thought Hegseth was unprepared for the questions but added that it doesn’t matter because the defense secretary has “an audience of one,” likely referring to President Donald Trump.

Fired Pentagon Official Says He’s ‘Not Sure’ if Pete Hegseth Is OK
Former Pentagon official Colin Carroll described Hegseth as fixated on “weird details and very agitated.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fired-pentagon-official-says-he-s-not-sure-if-pete-hegseth-is-ok/ar-AA1DNeQY

Polygraph Threats, Leaks and Infighting: The Chaos Inside Hegseth’s Pentagon

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Defense secretary has chastised top military officers and staffers as he seeks to quiet a storm he helped create.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied discussing sensitive military information with his wife and others in the Signal app.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was rattled.

Word had leaked that he was planning a classified briefing for Elon Musk on China, a revelation that infuriated President Trump and raised alarms inside the Pentagon given Musk’s business ties to Beijing.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/pete-hegseth-pentagon-fired-aides-cfa9e0d5