ANGELO LYNN

President Trump’s powerplay to wrest control of California’s National Guard from California Gov. Gavin Newsome was another test of presidential control that will be challenged in court and, like many of Trump’s actions, will likely be found as an overreach of presidential authority. It was the first time since 1965 that a president has ordered in the guard without a governor’s consent, and that was a much different affair with President Lyndon Johnson acting to defend the protestors against police violence in Selma, Alabama, and the governor, George Wallace, a known racist and segregationist.

Vt. Senator Bernie Sanders put Trump’s action, and its threat to our democracy, plainly: “Let’s be clear: Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in California is not about the protests there, ICE, or immigration. It is about using extremely dubious legal authority to expand his never-ending grasp for more power and his effort to move this country toward authoritarianism… It is absurd and laughable for the Trump administration to argue that they needed to mobilize the National Guard because of a threat from a ‘foreign invasion’ or ‘rebellion’ against the United States. This is just another example of Trump wanting more power for himself and ignoring the law. All Americans – Democrats, Republicans, independents – must stand together against this gross abuse of power.”

Locally, it’s laudable the Middlebury Selectboard voted to endorse a citizen-led resolution opposing the US House-backed Budget Reconciliation Bill (known as Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill) that would cut almost $800 billion from federal Medicare spending over the next decade. Between 14,000-23,000 Vermonters would lose health care coverage, and many elementary and high school students would see some of the worst effects. The cuts, ACSD Supt. Wendy Baker said, would have a bigger detrimental effect on schools in Vermont than H.454, adding that she doesn’t say that lightly as H.454 would have far-reaching changes on Vermont schools!

For those who thought Trump’s big bill was just about preserving tax cuts for the rich, it’s what’s being cut that defines the dark heart of this Trump-led legislation. Read the story on Page 1A by reporter John Flowers.

Angelo Lynn