Military Force
Week of June 6-12, 2025
Welcome to TRACKING THE CRISIS, a weekly round-up from The Democracy Collaborative tracking the administrative, legislative, and other actions of the new Trump Administration as well as the many forms of legal and movement response from across a broad range of social, political, and economic actors. TDC is providing this service for collective informational purposes, as a tool for understanding the times during a period of disorientingly rapid flux and change in the U.S. political economy. TDC should not be understood as endorsing or otherwise any of the specific content of the information round-up.
TRUMP TRACKER: Administration actions
ICE raids across Los Angeles spark community uprising, solidarity protests; Trump calls in Marines, National Guard. On Friday, June 6, ICE began raiding workplaces across the Los Angeles area, including Home Depot and apparel factories in the downtown Garment District. These moves drew immediate protests from the community, which mobilized quickly to demonstrate against the raids. The protests were met with force by federal agents; SEIU California president David Huerta, a longtime community organizer and labor leader, was thrown to the ground and arrested while questioning ICE at one raid site. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass denounced the raids, drawing ire from Trump Administration officials. By Saturday, June 7, ICE expanded operations into the extensive LA suburbs, including Paramount, a neighborhood adjacent to Compton, where protestors resisted federal agents with barricades while police used flash bang grenades and tear gas attempting to disperse the crowd. On Saturday, Trump announced he would be deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell protests, drawing condemnation from community leaders and lawmakers. Sunday, June 8 drew a large protest of around 10,000 people to Downtown Los Angeles, which was largely peaceful but met with repressive tactics from police, including tear gas, rubber bullets, horse-mounted charges, and batons. Several journalists covering the protests were hit with ‘less-than-lethal’ rounds shot by police, including an Australian journalist who was shot while reporting live on air, and a 60-year-old British journalist who was hit in the leg by a sponge round. Several media outlets, as well as LA officials, reported that the protestors were peaceful and that federal agents had escalated violence. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also announced that 700 Marines were to be deployed to Los Angeles; commentators observed that the number of troops on LA streets now outnumbered those in Syria and Iraq. By Wednesday, June 11, the fourth day of protests, LA Mayor Karen Bass instituted an 8pm curfew for the Downtown LA area, where LAPD made mass arrests, as ICE officers pursued farmworkers across fields in other parts of Southern California. Trump also escalated his attacks on Bass and Newsom, accusing them of ‘siding with criminals’ as they voiced their objections to Trump’s deployment of military force. The Guardian reported on Wednesday that families detained by ICE were being held in basements with little to no access to food or water, while the San Francisco Chronicle obtained photos of National Guard troops sleeping on floors, which along with the political uncertainty has sapped morale among deployed troops. On Thursday, June 12, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the Trump Administration, ordering the federal government to return control of the California National Guard to Newsom; although several hours later, an appeals court granted a stay on the injunction, allowing Trump to keep the National Guard and Marines in the city until at least June 17. With military aid, ICE continues to conduct raids in workplaces and churches throughout Los Angeles, stoking fear and intimidation among the city’s vast immigrant population.
Trump Administration confronts California officials, makes an example of federal and military response in Los Angeles to threaten other Democratic jurisdictions. Trump’s decision to send in the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles sparked a wave of condemnation from Democratic lawmakers, veterans, and expert observers, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, who confronted Trump in a series of social media posts and filed suit against the Trump Administration over the move to call in the military. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on a leaked letter from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to Hegseth requesting that the military be used to ‘make arrests,’ a move which many experts decried as a ‘grave escalation’ of authoritarianism and a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. By the third day of protests, it became apparent that the Trump Administration was using Los Angeles as an example and template for communities who resist its mass deportation program, particularly Democratic-led ‘sanctuary’ cities and states. Hegseth told Congress on Tuesday that he would do whatever it took to make sure ICE could ‘safely conduct operations in any state and jurisdiction in the country,’ stoking concerns that military deployment could become widespread. Trump also ramped up his confrontation with Newsom by taking steps to withhold federal funding from California, while Newsom hit back, citing the fact that California contributes over $80 million in taxes per year to the federal government and threatened to withhold that contribution. As Newsom politically navigates his confrontation with Trump, Trump allies have been stoking divisions with misinformation and rhetoric, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson calling for Newsom to be ‘tarred and feathered’ for his opposition. 75 Democratic lawmakers broke with the majority of their party to vote with the GOP for a resolution ‘thanking’ ICE for its mass deportation efforts. The Washington Post notes how recent White House remarks open the door for Trump to send the military to other places that show resistance to ICE, despite Trump’s top general Dan Caine expressing doubt in Trump’s characterization of immigrants in the United States as an ‘invasion.’ Sen. Josh Hawley targeted CA-based nonprofits for ‘bankrolling unrest’ in Los Angeles, and sent a letter to the Party for Socialism and Liberation announcing a counterterrorism investigation against the activist group.
California Senator Alex Padilla forcibly removed from Kristi Noem press conference, thrown to ground and handcuffed; lawmakers react. On Thursday, June 12, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was holding a press conference at the Los Angeles federal building when California Senator Alex Padilla approached the podium to ask a question. He was forcibly removed from the room by federal agents, thrown to the ground and handcuffed, though he was not arrested. Video of the incident quickly went viral, sparking outrage from fellow lawmakers and California officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom, who posted a picture of Padilla being manhandled with the caption: “If they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they will do to you.” More than a dozen Democratic Senators immediately took to the Senate floor to denounce Padilla’s treatment at the hands of DHS agents, including Sens. Cory Booker, Chris Murphy, Brian Schatz, and Elizabeth Warren. GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski also denounced the incident, calling it “shocking at every level.” In the House, Democratic Rep. John Mannion angrily confronted Rep. Mike Lawler in a ‘shouting match’ over Padilla; and a group of House Democrats marched to the Hill offices of Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Rep. Adriano Espillat, chair of the Congressional Latino Caucus, said that “the White House is unhinged and out of control.” Several of the lawmakers used the word “fascism” to describe the DHS’s actions against Padilla. In a statement, Sen. Padilla described how he was treated and noted that “if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a U.S. Senator asking a question, you can only imagine what they are doing to farmworkers, cooks, and day laborers…we will hold this Administration accountable.” Journalist David Corn highlighted the statements Noem made before Padilla’s interruption, noting that her remarks were an example of ‘classic authoritarian red-baiting.’ CNN notes how the criminalizing treatment of Padilla follows a ‘trend’ of the Trump Administration’s persecution of lawmakers and judges that oppose its agenda.
Israel attacks Iran over rumored nuclear program; U.S. withdraws diplomats. On Wednesday, June 11, the Trump Administration began to withdraw diplomats and other U.S. personnel in Iraq and other posts in the Middle East due to a “heightened security environment” in anticipation of a rumored Israeli strike. Earlier in the day, Trump admitted that talks over Iran’s nuclear program were deadlocked and that he was “less confident” that a deal to stop uranium enrichment could be reached. Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh also said on Wednesday that “some officials on the other side threaten conflict” and that Iran would retaliate by hitting U.S. bases if conflict arises. On Thursday, June 12, the International Atomic Energy Agency moved to declare Iran in breach of nonproliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years. Trump continued to warn of a “chance of massive conflict,” while indicating that an Israeli strike was not his preference, thinking “they could blow it” at a chance of reaching a deal. Late Thursday night, residents of Tehran began hearing explosions around the capital city as Israel launched its first airstrikes. Israel’s defense minister then announced that Israel had begun a ‘preemptive strike’ on Iran and declared a state of ‘special emergency’ in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that nuclear enrichment facilities were targeted, although Iranians released pictures showing several residential buildings had been hit. Israel struck over 100 targets overnight, killing Hossein Salami, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, as well as several nuclear scientists. Al Jazeera has released a full list of the officials killed in the attacks. Iran launched over a hundred drones towards Israel in retaliation, which were intercepted in Jordanian airspace. The New York Times has published a map of sites struck by Israel, and reported on the extensive Israeli intelligence operation that led to the strike. Israel’s attack was denounced by leaders across the Middle East, Russia, and Japan, while European leaders called for de-escalation; the IAEA also warned Israel not to damage nuclear facilities for fear of “grave consequences” to public safety in the region. Iran confirmed that some damage was done to a nuclear facility in Natanz, but the IAEA confirmed no increase in radiation levels was detected. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that the strikes were a ‘unilateral’ decision by Israel and did not include the United States in planning or implementing the attack, and pleaded with Iran not to strike U.S. facilities in the region. Trump urged Iran to make a deal “before there’s nothing left,” implying that attacks from Israel could be “even more brutal” going forward. As of this writing, Iranian state media has confirmed 78 dead and 349 injured in the overnight attacks. Protestors rallied in Tehran early Friday calling for retaliation against Israel; one resident told AFP that “we can’t let this bastard [Netanyahu] continue, or we’ll end up like Gaza.” The UN Security Council is set to meet on Friday, at the request of Tehran, to discuss the attacks, which Iran considers a “declaration of war,” and the international response. (As of publication time, there were incoming reports of retaliatory Iranian missile strikes on Israel.)
Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship Madleen boarded by IDF troops; Greta Thunberg, other activists arrested and deported. On Monday, June 9, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Madleen, a humanitarian aid ship launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition in defiance of Israel’s total blockade of the Gaza Strip. Among the activists on the Madleen were Greta Thunberg and actor Liam Cunningham. The interception of the ship was denounced by human rights advocates and governments around the world, as protests erupted across Europe; Amnesty International released a statement claiming that the Madleen’s detention flouted international law, and Turkey called Israel a ‘terrorist state’ over its international aid blockade. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz reportedly instructed the IDF to show the activists “footage of the October 7 attacks” before releasing them from custody. Four of the activists, including Thunberg, were deported to their respective countries on Tuesday, June 10, while another six were deported on Thursday, June 12. Two of the activists, both French nationals, remain in Israeli custody. Palestinian human rights group Adalah says that the activists were subjected to ‘aggressive mistreatment’ while in custody. Thunberg said after her release that the volunteers on board the Madleen were “kidnapped in international waters and brought against our own will into Israel.” The activists vowed to continue their campaign, promising not to “give up until the Gaza blockade is broken.” This week, Israeli forces killed at least 20 Palestinian civilians at two aid distribution points set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S.-backed organization that was authorized by Israel to distribute aid in Gaza after international pressure to alleviate the starvation crisis in the embattled enclave.
Trump prepares for military parade amidst protests, vows to use ‘very heavy’ repression against opposition. Despite a forecast of thunderstorms bringing possible safety issues, and amidst widespread outcry over deployment of military force in Los Angeles, preparations are going full steam ahead for Trump’s military parade in Washington DC on Saturday, June 14. The spectacle, which will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Army and Trump’s 79th birthday, will involve nearly 7,000 troops and over 150 aircraft, tanks, and heavy artillery, is estimated to cost taxpayers $45 million, about $16 million of which will go to repairing damage to DC streets after the event. The parade, which has been widely criticized by Democrats, veterans, and everyday citizens as a waste of federal funds, has taken on new levels of scrutiny in light of Trump’s mobilization of military repression in Los Angeles. Trump touted the parade in a speech to active duty servicemembers in Fort Bragg, North Carolina this week, where he promoted conspiracy theories, maligned California’s Democratic leadership, and vowed to use “very heavy force” against opposition protests. Military.com reports that the troops present at Trump’s speech “roared with laughter and applauded Trump’s diatribe in a shocking and rare public display of troops taking part in naked political partisanship.” The article also states that the troops at Trump’s speech were screened and handpicked based on their loyalty and political leanings, as well as “no fat troops,” per the Administration’s request. Military experts and veterans denounced the politically charged rally, with one retired Army colonel remarking that “the generals stay silent… America’s Generals and Admirals are terrified. They are cowed. They seem unlikely to hold the line and live up to their oaths to serve the U.S. Constitution… our democracy is in great danger." Alternet reports that many GOP lawmakers and top military officials are planning to sit out the event. Millions of people across the country are planning to participate in the nationwide “No Kings” protest on Saturday, including thousands in DC; Texas governor Greg Abbott has ordered 5,000 Texas National Guard troops to deploy against protestors, and in Florida, a Tallahassee sheriff warned protestors that “if you throw a brick… we will kill you.” Army officials told the New York Times that the timing of the parade amid the Los Angeles protest controversy “could make it appear as if the military is celebrating a crackdown on Americans,” while others denounced the parade as ‘dictator chic,’ much “more fitting for Russia or North Korea.”
House votes to cut funding for NPR, PBS, and foreign aid in $9 billion rescission bill. On Thursday, June 12, the House of Representatives voted 214-212 on a DOGE-designed bill to claw back over $9 billion in previously appropriated funds for foreign aid and public media. About $1.1 billion will be cut from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR, PBS, and thousands of local public media stations across the country. The rescission package, requested by White House budget director and Project 2025 mastermind Russell Vought, is aimed at eliminating ‘wasteful’ federal funding on “the World Health Organization, LGBTQI+ activities, ‘equity’ programs, radical Green New Deal-type policies, and… a public media system that is politically biased and is an unnecessary expense to the taxpayer,” according to Vought. The public media cuts will be ‘catastrophic’ to rural stations, which communities rely on for local news and emergency warning systems, and would ‘overwhelmingly’ impact outlets in red states, according to CBS News. Conservative media pundits lauded the bill, which looked headed for defeat until Speaker Johnson turned critical Republican votes at the last minute; four Republicans broke with the party line and voted with Democrats against the bill. PBS CEO Paula Kerger discussed the potential impact of the cuts with Cascades Public Media, and station managers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Iowa weigh limited options to keep their outlets afloat after the cuts. In Seattle, KEXP hosted a 27-hour marathon broadcast in protest of the sweeping cuts. The Senate is expected to take up the bill in July after the budget bill vote.
RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine committee, replaces them with skeptics. This week, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 members of the CDC’s independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, citing ‘conflicts of interest’ in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. The purge was denounced by public health experts as “a dangerous and unprecedented action that makes our families less safe”; former CDC director Tom Frieden added that “Politicizing the ACIP as Secretary Kennedy is doing will undermine public trust under the guise of improving it.” RFK Jr. then named eight new people to the committee, including Vicky Pebsworth, a noted anti-vaccination advocate, and Martin Kuldorff, an ex-Harvard professor who co-authored an open letter advocating a mass-infection ‘herd immunity’ approach to the COVID pandemic. Kuldorff and another appointee, Robert Malone, were both paid to be expert witnesses in a vaccine lawsuit against Merck, which Merck won in March. Scientists and analysts express concern that the new appointees may relitigate current recommended immunization guidelines, putting lives at risk; and that vaccines could become more expensive and harder to access to those who need it. RFK Jr. also eliminated funding for maternal mortality research and perinatal health, which, in addition to ending COVID vaccine recommendations for pregnant women, could put mothers’ lives at risk. The NIH is also shuttering its Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases, which worked to research and detect potential pandemics before they start. A new report from the Association of American Medical Colleges this week warned that federal funding cuts pose an ‘existential threat’ to academic medicine, with repercussions for patient care in the United States. Trump’s proposed budget bill will also gut funding for nursing research and Planned Parenthood clinics, which critics say could act as a ‘backdoor’ abortion ban through decreased access to reproductive care.
Tracking the Money: conflicts of interest and privatization in the Trump Administration. Following Trump’s February order pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department released new, narrowed guidelines for the Act this week and has closed approximately half of its cases investigating bribery by U.S. companies overseas. The DOJ unit investigating bribery cases was also cut in half this week, to just 15 prosecutors. The DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, which investigates political corruption, was also gutted by the Trump Administration this week, losing its ‘authority to file new cases’ and cutting its staff of 30 to just five prosecutors; it also lost its role in reviewing cases against public officials, which “frees political appointees in the Justice Department to prosecute public officials without going through a review intended to prevent baseless or politically motivated prosecutions.” The Senate also voted this week to confirm scandal-ridden Trump appointee Billy Long as IRS commissioner, signaling what Americans for Tax Fairness calls “open season for tax cheats.” The vote was vehemently opposed by Senator Ron Wyden, who read a list of Long’s implicated involvements in “tax scams, corruption, and cover-ups” on the Senate floor before the vote. ProPublica reports on El Salvador president and Trump deportation ally Nayib Bukele’s shady dealings with MS-13 and his efforts to obstruct a U.S. task force investigating wrongdoing by Bukele and his inner circle. Russell Vought’s CFPB attempted unsuccessfully this week to seek a pardon for mortgage broker Townstone Financial, which was fined in 2024 for discriminatory lending practices. Mother Jones reports on the inner circle of Trump’s new $500K-membership private country club in DC, including founding member David Sacks, Trump’s new crypto and AI czar, raising ethics concerns around conflicts of interest. Former Obama adviser David Plouffe announced his plans to join an advisory council for pro-Trump crypto exchange Coinbase, which donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration and had an investigation against it subsequently dropped in February by Trump’s SEC. Joe Conason writes on the long history of Trump’s grifting practices and how he now stands to make billions from his position as President.
MOVEMENT TRACKER
A ‘sleeping giant’ wakes as protests erupt in Los Angeles after ICE raids. As ICE raids swept workplaces across Los Angeles, residents in the majority-Latino city mobilized rapidly to protect their communities. After at least 45 people were arrested on Friday, June 6, hundreds of protestors turned out in a matter of hours outside the federal building in downtown, while community members in Paramount, Boyle Heights, and other neighborhoods have physically stopped or turned back ICE vehicles, and have gotten ICE kicked out of at least three local hotels. At a hotel in Pasadena hosting ICE agents, protestors gathered pressuring the hotel to kick them out; tires were slashed on ICE vehicles and the towing company refused service when they found out who their customers were, forcing ICE to use duct tape on their tires in order to leave the hotel. The city of Glendale terminated its contracts with ICE, saying in a statement that it “remains committed to public safety, transparency, and the fair treatment of all individuals – regardless of immigration status.” Students at Pasadena High School staged a walk-out on Thursday in solidarity with protestors. Protestors were reportedly sheltered by local residents during a police crackdown on downtown demonstrations on Sunday. Despite some clashes between protestors and police, mainstream media in a rare move recognized the protests as largely peaceful, shaping the protest narrative early on as an act of self-defense against violence from the police and federal agents. LAFC soccer fans unfurled a giant “Abolish ICE” banner and chanted “F**K ICE!” at a local MLS game. Rock legend Billie Joe Armstrong shared his sympathies with protestors on social media, as Teen Vogue shared lessons from Black Lives Matter activists who faced the Trump Administration during the George Floyd protest uprising in 2020. After Trump called in the military, local veterans decried the move as social media posts advertising the GI Rights Hotline for conscientious objectors went viral, spurring a spike in calls to the hotline from servicemembers worried about being deployed on U.S. soil. Governor Gavin Newsom’s impassioned speech warning of the ‘danger to democracy’ posed by the Trump Administration’s actions in LA drew support from fellow Democrats; Congressional Black Caucus chair Rep. Yvette Clarke called the troop deployments an ‘impeachable offense,’ while other Democrats set their sights on an ‘ICE funding war’ in 2027. After federal agents assaulted Sen. Alex Padilla at Kristi Noem’s press conference on Thursday, a growing number of Senate Democrats are calling for Noem’s resignation. Three Democratic governors testified to the House Oversight Committee in defense of their states’ sanctuary policies on Thursday. Protests in LA are continuing after five days, despite a local curfew and threats of military repression; which observers say could be ‘just the beginning’ of a sustained and vigorous grassroots movement against Trump’s authoritarian agenda, as more people signal their readiness to defend their communities in the face of repression.
Protests in solidarity with Los Angeles and immigrant communities spread nationwide after the military called in to quell LA protests. Anti-ICE protests in solidarity with Los Angeles spread nationwide to at least 37 cities this week as protestors took the streets in solidarity with LA residents and confronted ICE in their own neighborhoods. Earlier in the week, rapid response protests were called in Detroit, San Francisco, Chicago, Savannah, Baltimore, Tampa, Austin, Dallas, New York City, Denver, Philadelphia, Boston, Des Moines, and more as protests proliferated throughout the week, facing down local police in many instances. Immigrant workers at construction sites around the country flew Mexican flags in solidarity with Los Angeles, where the Mexican flag has become an icon for immigrant rights. Immigration courts were shut down by protestors in Sacramento, San Francisco, Concord, and Chicago; while community confrontations with ICE in New York, Spokane, Omaha, and Tucson prevented arrests in some places. In Chicago, a car drove through a crowd of protestors, injuring one; no details on the driver have been released as of this writing. In Dallas, an Army veteran “call[ed] on conscience” of servicemembers to resist orders if they are deployed to accompany ICE. Protestors confronted police repression in Seattle and Las Vegas as LA came under curfew. With the “No Kings” nationwide protest already scheduled for this Saturday, June 14, protestors are preparing for sustained mobilization and the possibility of police confrontation but show no signs of backing down.
ICE detainees revolt at NJ detention facility Delaney Hall, tearing down walls; four escape. Late Thursday, June 12, migrant detainees at the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark staged an uprising in protest of poor conditions and insufficient food, as approximately 50 detainees tore down a wall in revolt. A lawyer for one of the detainees told New Jersey local media that “simmering dissatisfaction over the quality and timeliness of meals in the facility boiled over” by Thursday afternoon. The detainees were joined by protestors outside the facility, who reportedly blocked police and ICE cars from entering or leaving the facility during the uprising, as police pepper sprayed the protestors who had barricaded the gate. Newark mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested last month while trying to inspect the Delaney Hall facility, issued a statement just after midnight demanding ‘immediate answers’ about detainee conditions from DHS and Geo Group, the private contractor who runs the facility. Four detainees reportedly escaped during the uprising and are still unaccounted for as of this writing. Also this week, ‘starving’ detainees at the Krome detention facility in Miami lined themselves up in the prison yard to spell “SOS” for news helicopters, protesting similarly poor conditions at the notorious facility.
Trump ‘booed mercilessly’ at Kennedy Center Les Miserables performance. Trump and Melania attended a gala performance of Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, June 11, amid boos and heckles from the audience as he sat down in the presidential box. Several actors in the touring production boycotted the performance in protest of Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center, which has seen ticket sales decline precipitously since Trump assumed leadership of the arts center. Some Trump supporters tried to chant “USA” to drown out the protestors. Four drag artists took seats directly below the presidential box as a statement against the Trump Administration’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Trump reportedly left immediately after the performance before the lights came back on. Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker discusses how Trump has completely missed the point of his ‘favorite’ musical.
SEIU President David Huerta released after nationwide labor protests; federal workers protest against Medicaid and CDC cuts. Labor unions mobilized nationwide on Monday, June 9, in the wake of SEIU California leader David Huerta’s arrest on the first day of the Los Angeles protests. SEIU, a largely immigrant service workers’ union that has recently been targeted by the Trump Administration, was joined by other labor leaders as well as hundreds of protestors outside the Justice Department in Washington DC to demand his release. Huerta was released on bond late Monday after a court hearing. United Farm Workers vice president Roman Pinal appeared on NBC this week to call attention to ICE raids targeting farmworkers in the fields. Marketplace ran an article describing the long history of solidarity between unions and immigrant workers. Federal workers rallied at the VA this week to protest a planned 15% staffing cut to the agency, warning of the impacts to services amid the Trump Administration’s “targeted attack on veteran jobs, health care, benefits and union rights.” Medicaid advocates and disabled people rallied this week for a “Healthcare Cuts Will Kill” protest outside the U.S. Capitol to denounce deep healthcare spending cuts in Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” Dozens of CDC employees walked out of their offices this week, joining former employees to protest RFK Jr.’s transformation of the agency and calling for his resignation. On Wednesday, June 11, the entire board of the Fulbright scholarship program resigned in protest at ‘political interference’ from the Trump Administration and the cancellation of scholarships. More than 90 NIH researchers, doctors, and program directors signed and released the ‘Bethesda Declaration’ this week to denounce the Trump Administration’s “policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”
Polls show approval ratings for Trump policies dip sharply after authoritarian turn. After the Trump Administration’s decision to send in the National Guard and Marines to quell Los Angeles protests, a YouGov poll released on Tuesday, June 10 showed a double-digit disapproval of Trump’s use of the military for immigration enforcement. Another YouGov survey conducted in April 2025 showed that 63 percent of Americans support a path to citizenship for immigrant workers, almost double the amount of support for legalization since the survey was first conducted in 2010. A Quinnipiac poll released on Wednesday, June 11 showed Trump’s approval rating at just 38%, with 57% opposing the current budget legislation being debated in the Senate; in the same poll, support for Israel dropped to an all-time low, with 37% supporting Israelis and 32% supporting Palestinians, and only 12% of Democrats supporting Israel’s actions in Gaza. New polling from the Pew Research Center finds that public opinion of Trump has dropped sharply in Mexico, Canada, and other allied countries. An AP-NORC poll released Thursday found that 60% of Americans oppose ‘wasting’ taxpayer funds on Trump’s military parade. The pollster G. Elliot Morris finds approval for Trump policies underwater in all areas, and discusses the trends with Greg Sargent of the New Republic.
Upcoming Protests.
Saturday, June 14: NO KINGS nationwide protest organized in over 1,800 locations nationwide. The number of people planning to attend the protests has reportedly skyrocketed after the Los Angeles protest crackdown. Walmart heiress Christy Walton has reportedly bought ads promoting the protests. For more information on local actions, visit http://nokings.org.
Monday, June 16: The Indigenous Environmental Network will be hosting a Zoom webinar on the Trump Administration’s attacks on Tribal sovereignty, featuring voices from the frontline of land and resource struggles. More information can be found at http://bit.ly/sovereigntyunderattack.
Wednesday, June 18: MomsRising and NWLC Action Fund will be hosting a virtual townhall on the Republican budget bill.
Lawsuit updates.
A federal judge blocked ICE from detaining Columbia student Yunseo Chung, whom the Trump Administration had targeted for arrest after her pro-Palestinian activism. Chung has lived in the United States since she was 7 years old.
On Wednesday, June 11, a federal judge ruled that Columbia student activist Mahmoud Khalil cannot be detained or deported based on Marco Rubio’s determination of a ‘foreign threat.’ Khalil remains in custody while the Trump Administration shifts its justification for his detention.
Professor Rupa Marya has sued the University of California, San Francisco for suspending her faculty position over social media posts in support of Palestine.
A federal judge on Monday, June 9 blocked the Trump Administration from cutting off funding to nine LGBTQ+ serving nonprofits after an executive order restricted access to federal funding for “DEI”-related initiatives.
CA Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit against the Trump Administration this week, seeking to block the Administration’s intent to cut off federal funding for all California public schools over the state’s inclusion of transgender athletes.
The New York Times profiles some of the lawyers pursuing over 400 lawsuits against the Trump Administration’s executive orders and policies.
