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Trump's Policies Face Scrutiny Amidst Protests, Potential Shutdown, and Weather Concerns
Washington, D.C. - President Trump's administration faced a confluence of challenges this week, ranging from financial concerns over National Guard deployments to protests against immigration policies and the looming threat of a government shutdown, all while the East Coast braced for another potential winter storm.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that President Trump's deployment of the National Guard could cost over $1.1 billion this year if domestic deployments remained in place, according to NPR News. During his second term, Trump sent troops to six Democratic-led cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon, purportedly to suppress protests, tackle crime, or protect federal buildings and personnel. Half of those mobilizations ended this month.
Meanwhile, protests erupted in response to the fatal shootings of two people by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis. Time reported that activists called for a nationwide general strike on Friday, January 30, urging "no school, no work and no shopping" to protest President Trump's immigration crackdown. The National Shutdown campaign's website stated, "The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country – to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN." Thousands of Minnesotans previously took to the streets, and hundreds of businesses shuttered, following the shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE officer earlier in the month.
The administration's response to Good's death drew criticism. Time reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Good a "domestic terrorist," and Vice President J.D. Vance echoed the sentiment. This language was condemned by some as a dangerous reclassification of citizens. "Once a government convinces people that some among them are unworthy of rights or empathy, the rest becomes frighteningly easy," Time noted.
Adding to the administration's woes, Senate Democrats revealed three demands to overhaul ICE, tying the changes to a must-pass spending bill as Congress approached a potential partial government shutdown. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, stated that the party coalesced around legislative objectives to rein in ICE, accusing the agency of operating with little accountability under President Trump, according to Time. These demands included tightening ICE's warrant requirements, introducing a uniformed code of conduct for its agents, and requiring all ICE agents to be unmasked and equipped with body cameras. "We want to end roving patrols," Schumer said, outlining the Democrats' focus.
On top of the political and social unrest, the East Coast braced for another potential winter storm. According to Time, a winter storm was expected to form off the coast of the Carolinas on Saturday before potentially intensifying into a bomb cyclone – a rapidly strengthening storm with a sudden pressure drop that can cause blizzards, strong winds, and freezing temperatures. While the coming storm was not anticipated to be as widespread or intense as the previous one, its potential impact remained uncertain.
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