Duckworth Joins Schiff, Padilla, Durbin in Amicus Brief Fighting Trump Abuse of Military Deployments

Duckworth Joins Schiff, Padilla, Durbin in Amicus Brief Fighting Trump Abuse of Military Deployments

Brief filed with the circuit court hearing case against Trump's use of the military in Los Angeles warns of continued abuse of the military in other U.S. cities

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and 15 of her colleagues in filing an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the lawsuit brought against President Trump for his misuse of the U.S. military earlier this year. The lawsuit came from the State of California after Trump deployed thousands of members of the California National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps to Los Angeles without legal justification or approval from state or local officials.

"From Los Angeles to DC and now Chicago, it couldn't be clearer that Trump's repeated abuse of our military has nothing to do with 'law and order'-and everything to do with politicizing our servicemembers for his own partisan gain," said Duckworth. "Trump forcing our brave men and women in uniform to intimidate their fellow Americans and crush dissent is deeply disturbing and un-American. Fighting crime isn't what our military does-and it's not what they're trained for. The courts must rule against this abuse that is distracting our servicemembers from their core mission of keeping Americans safe from adversaries who wish us harm."

"Deploying our military to one of our own cities is a scare tactic, a waste of resources, and a constitutional crisis. The President is abusing his role as Commander in Chief and threatening multiple rights guaranteed in our Constitution aimed to protect us from dictatorship. As he threatens to bring his scare tactics to Chicago, the courts must clarify and rule against these abuses that undermine our national security," said Durbin.

The brief filed by the Senators in Newsom v Trump warns of the potential for continued abuse of the military should the Court rule for the Administration.

"Our concern that President Trump will continue to act in bad faith and abuse his power is borne out by his recent deployment of state militias to Washington, D.C. and his stated intent to deploy state militias in other blue cities," the Senators wrote.

Along with Duckworth, Schiff, Padilla and Durbin, the brief was co-signed by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA.), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

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