DHS could request up to 10,000 troops for the border, internal memo shows

DHS could request up to 10,000 troops for the border, internal memo shows
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(WASHINGTON) — An internal Border Patrol memo obtained by ABC News indicates that the Department of Homeland Security could request up to 10,000 U.S. military troops to help with efforts along the United States-Mexico border.

Defense officials, however, said this week that they have not heard of this figure, but did say they expected that there could be additional requests for troops.

“This is just the start. This is an initial step, and we are anticipating many further missions,” a senior Defense official told reporters.

The White House yesterday announced that 1,500 troops would be sent to help with operations at the southern border. Those roles, according to sources, would be to help with processing and surveillance.

The Customs and Border Protection planning memo also says the agency could request military infrastructure and technology.

CBP “may” utilize military bases as holding facilities for those who are arrested by Customs and Border Protection. Defense officials said that DOD had not received any requests for that kind of assistance but would evaluate such requests.

The Navy may also help with enforcing and carrying out coastal border operations, according to the document.

Two U.S. officials told ABC News on Thursday afternoon that the first of 500 Marines bound for the border would be shipping out in the coming hours and Army units would be in transit later in the day. A good number of the Army troops will be military police, but they will not be carrying out law enforcement duties, according to other officials.

In addition, four military cargo planes are being positioned for use in deportation flights — a C-17 and C-130 in San Diego and another C-17 and C-130 at Fort Bliss, Texas. So far only the C-17 to Ft. Deportation flights cannot begin until the State Department arranges details, which could take some time.

The U.S. Northern Command said in a news release Thursday that it is “aggressively” bolstering security at the border. About 1,500 soldiers and Marines are “immediately” deploying to the region to augment the approximately nearly 2,500 service members already there supporting CBP’s mission at the border.

“In a matter of days, we will have nearly doubled the number of forces along the border, effectively implementing the President’s intent while planning and posturing for expanded efforts to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States,” said Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the Northern Command.

The exact number of personnel will fluctuate as units rotate personnel and as additional forces are tasked to deploy once planning efforts are finalized, Northern Command said. These forces will support enhanced detection and monitoring efforts and repair and emplace physical barriers, the release said.

-ABC News’ Matt Seyler contributed to this report.

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HHS to cut about 10,000 full-time employees
HHS to cut about 10,000 full-time employees
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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Thursday that about 10,000 full-time employees will soon lose their jobs, on top of the nearly 10,000 who have already left the agency in the last few months through buyout offers or early retirements.

That puts the total employees at around 62,000 people — down from 82,000 at the start of the Trump administration. The agency oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — among other divisions.

“We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement on Thursday.

“This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves. That’s the entire American public, because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy claimed the latest cuts will save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year. The cuts will reduce the number of regional offices — from 10 down to five. It will also combine the current 28 divisions at HHS into 15 divisions, including a new one focused on Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, to be named the Administration for a Healthy America.

“We’re going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies, while preserving their core functions by merging them into a new organization called the Administration for a Healthy America,” Kennedy said in a video out Thursday explaining the cuts.

Despite cutting nearly one-quarter of the agency, the department maintains that the restructuring won’t impact “critical services.”

The real-world impact of the newest round of cuts, however, remains to be seen. Already, cuts have hit top researchers at the National Institute of Health’s Alzheimer’s research center and disease detectives who identify new infectious diseases.

ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.

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Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene on blocks to his birthright citizenship order
Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene on blocks to his birthright citizenship order
Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s administration has asked the Supreme Court to significantly narrow nationwide injunctions issued by three different federal judges blocking his executive order redefining birthright citizenship in the U.S.

The emergency applications ask the justices to take a “modest” step and roll back the judges’ restrictions on Trump’s Day 1 order, allowing federal agencies to move forward with developing guidance and preparing for implementation if, at the end of litigation, the president prevails.

“At a minimum, the Court should stay the injunctions to the extent they prohibit agencies from developing and issuing public guidance regarding the implementation of the Order. Only this Court’s intervention can prevent universal injunctions from becoming universally acceptable,” Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in the application.

Trump’s executive order would deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to unlawful immigrants or those on a temporary immigrant status. The administration’s claimed in court proceedings birthright citizenship creates a strong incentive for illegal immigration.

Federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state, in their rulings, have said such a move would appear plainly contrary to the text of the 14th Amendment and legal precedent.

The 14th Amendment states that all “persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

The Trump administration, in its appeals to the Supreme Court, railed against the use of nationwide injunctions and said they should be limited to the plaintiffs involved in the legal challenges.

“This Court should declare that enough is enough before district courts’ burgeoning reliance on universal injunctions becomes further entrenched,” the acting solicitor general wrote. “The Court should stay the district courts’ preliminary injunctions except as to the individual plaintiffs and the identified members of the organizational plaintiffs (and, if the Court concludes that States are proper litigants, as to individuals who are born or reside in those States).”

“At a minimum, the Court should stay the injunctions to the extent they prohibit agencies from developing and issuing public guidance regarding the implementation of the Order. Only this Court’s intervention can prevent universal injunctions from becoming universally acceptable.”

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Some Republicans defend courts against Trump administration’s efforts to push them aside
Some Republicans defend courts against Trump administration’s efforts to push them aside
Anna Rose Layden/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — Following Vice President JD Vance’s comments Sunday arguing that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” some Republican lawmakers have pushed back and reiterated the power of the courts.

As President Donald Trump continues to try to remake the federal government through a flood of executive orders, the number of legal challenges to his efforts have piled up, with federal courts across the country siding with plaintiffs to pause his plans as judges sort out the legality of his actions.

On Tuesday, Trump lashed out on his Truth Social platform against “certain activists and highly political judges” who he says want to “slow down” or stop his administration’s efforts to investigate “FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE.”

However, some Republican lawmakers are not completely on board with the administration’s strong stance criticizing the courts.

“We’ve got a system of checks and balances, and that’s what I see working,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said Monday night. “I learned in eighth grade civics about checks and balances, and I just expect the process to work its way out.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he believes the courts have an “important role to play” in moderating power.

“The courts obviously are the sort of the branch of our government that calls balls and strikes and referees and I think that they’ve got an important role to play,” Thune said. “I mean we have three branches of our government in this country, coequal and independent branches, and the judiciary is the one that resolves some of the differences that often occur between executive and legislative branches.”

Thune said the judiciary has moderated a number executive and congressional decisions in recent years.

“I expect that to continue, and I expect the court to play the important role of ensuring that you know the laws of the country are followed,” he added.

Sen. Josh Hawley, who serves on the Judiciary Committee and is a former state attorney general and Supreme Court clerk, called Vance’s comments an “understandable reaction” to frustration about the court’s rulings. But, he said, the courts are independent, and their rulings need to be followed.

“You may think that’s not the right ruling, but you know, they’re still the law,” Hawley said, adding that he believes the administration should abide by court rulings.

Hawley said executives have a right to challenge and appeal and to follow orders but not apply them broadly.

During an interview on “The Mark Levin Show” Monday evening, Trump said the blocking of some of his executive actions by court order are “bad rulings.”

“Frankly, they want to sort of tell everybody how to run the country,” the president added during the interview, arguing that there are “very important people, smart people doing investigations of fraud,” and criticizing the courts for calling this “unconstitutional.”

“But judges should be ruling. They shouldn’t be dictating what you’re supposed to be doing,” Trump said.

However, some Republican leaders continue to back the administration.

During a press conference Tuesday morning, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson endorsed the vice president’s assertion by saying, “I agree wholeheartedly with Vice President JD Vance because he’s right.”

Though Johnson acknowledged “of course the branches have to respect our constitutional order,” he also said, “I think the courts should take a step back and allow these processes to play out.”

The speaker added that he does not feel uncomfortable with the president’s power and that the administration is doing “what’s right by the American people.”

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