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Experts Alarmed by ‘Way-Off-the-Scale Warmth’ as Snow Drought Hits Western US
"This is going to be an ugly summer," warned one California water policy specialist.
Apr 02, 2026
One of the worst Western US snow droughts of the century—exacerbated by a historically warm winter and a record-shattering March heatwave—has experts increasingly worried about wildfire and water supply risks heading into the spring and summer months.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Water Resources reported "no measurable snow" recorded at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada range. Because there was some visible snow already on the ground, DWR is calling this the second-lowest April measurement on record.
The agency said this is "a stark indicator of how record‑hot March temperatures and high‑elevation rain have erased the Sierra Nevada snowpack months ahead of schedule."
"The combination of warm storms and unusually hot temperatures rapidly melted what remained of this year’s already sparse snowpack," DWR added. "Statewide, the snowpack is now just 18% of average for this date, according to the automated snow sensor network."
DWR Director Karla Nemeth said that “it feels like we skipped spring this year and dropped straight into a summer heatwave."
“What should be gradual snowmelt happened suddenly weeks ago," Nemeth added. "We’re seeing fewer, warmer storms and shorter wet seasons. Future water supplies will depend upon our ability to capture water when it’s available and manage it more efficiently.”
(Image by US Department of Agriculture)
Jeff Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday: "It didn’t snow where we needed it to snow, and where it did snow, it didn’t stick. This is going to be an ugly summer."
Oregon's iconic Crater Lake is experiencing its lowest snow water equivalent levels on record for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service.
In Colorado, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data show the statewide snowpack is at just 26% of median levels as of Thursday.
“This year is on a whole other level,” Colorado State University climatologist Russ Schumacher told The Guardian. "Seeing this year so far below any of the other years we have data for is very concerning."
Last week, the Denver Board of Water Commissioners declared Stage 1 drought restrictions, a move that seeks to reduce water use by 20%.
“The snowpack within Denver Water’s collection system has deteriorated significantly and continues to decline,” said Nathan Elder, Denver Water’s manager of water supply. “Snowpack levels in both basins are now the lowest observed in the past 40 years, with accelerated melting underway. The conditions we are experiencing are unprecedented, and we need customers to save water to protect the supply we have right now.”
April measurements of alpine snowpacks—which are sometimes described as water savings accounts—typically indicate peak levels of water that, with spring warming, melt into reservoirs, rivers, and other bodies that help hydrate the West during the parched summer and fall months.
“March is often a big month for snowstorms,” Schumacher said. “Instead of getting snow we would normally expect we got this unprecedented, way-off-the-scale warmth.”
“This year has the potential of being way worse than any of the years we have analogues for in the past,” he added.
As University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist Daniel Swain explained last week:
Meteorologically speaking, March 2026 will go down in the record books as the warmest March on record for at least a third, and possibly half or more, of the continental United States. But even more remarkable is the ~10 day window of peak heat during this truly exceptional March heatwave—when many, if not most, locations across the western two thirds of the United States in a broad swath stretching from the Pacific Coast in California eastward past the Mississippi River broke their all-time March monthly heat records. The margin by which March heat records were shattered was so wide that more than a handful of locations also broke their all-time April heat records, and in a few locations even tied or broke their May heat records!
“Beyond the conspicuous ‘weirdness’ of it all, the most consequential impact of our record-shattering March heat will likely be the decimation of the water year 2025-26 snowpack across nearly all of the American west," Swain warned. "The toll wrought on our 'water tower in the sky' is nothing short of shocking."
I agree. This event has been meteorologically astonishing, and its impacts will be felt long after it ends in terms of record low snowpack, sharply increased wildfire risk, and extreme low watershed runoff/streamflow into summer and beyond.
[image or embed]
— Daniel Swain (@weatherwest.bsky.social) March 25, 2026 at 2:25 PM
The National Interagency Fire Center is among those projecting above-normal fire risk throughout the American West in the coming months.
“Unless there’s a major change in the weather patterns and we somehow pull out some sort of miracle springtime precipitation, we’re looking at an extended fire season,” Joel Lisonbee, senior associate scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research at the University of Colorado Boulder, told The Guardian.
In addition to the risk of drought and wildfire, low water levels threaten wildlife, including California's flagging salmon runs—which are also imperiled by Trump administration actions including habitat disruption caused by water flow manipulation.
“No sooner do we start to gain a little ground back in rebuilding our salmon runs, the federal Bureau of Reclamation is destroying them again,” Vance Staplin, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association, told The Sacramento Bee last week. "These fish are in big trouble if the bureau doesn’t relent very soon.”
Scientists have long warned that planetary heating driven by human burning of fossil fuels will result in longer and more frequent snow droughts. One 2020 study showed how the Western United States is fast becoming a "global snow drought hot spot," with the length of such dry spells increasing by 28% between 1980 and 2018.
“Climate change is going to result in a lot of these extreme events worsening,” Clark University climatologist Abby Frazier told The Guardian on Thursday. "It is heartbreaking to see it all playing out as we have predicted for so long. The changes we have teed up for ourselves are going to be catastrophic.”
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New Reporting on Campaign Giving in Illinois Exposes Increasingly 'Sophisticated Methods' of AIPAC
The "impressively coordinated" AIPAC operation features individual donations given "on the same day, by the same donors, for the same amounts" for pro-Israel candidates, according to Drop Site News.
Feb 06, 2026
The largest pro-Israel lobbying organization in the US has become increasingly toxic among Democratic voters, and a Friday report from Drop Site News revealed how the organization has gone to great lengths to conceal its support for candidates in the party's primaries.
Drop Site examined campaign donations in competitive Democratic primaries in Illinois and found that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) "is resorting to ever more sophisticated methods to support its preferred candidates while cloaking its own involvement."
According to Drop Site, AIPAC appears to have pioneered its concealment tactics during a 2024 Democratic primary in Oregon, when it funded super political action committees (PACs) that dumped money into the race to benefit Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), who was challenging Susheela Jayapal, the sister of Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
"The main super PAC in question (named 314 Action) explicitly denied that any funding came from AIPAC—a claim revealed as a flagrant lie once disclosure records finally became public," the report noted. "But by then, Dexter had triumphed and was on her way to Congress."
The same tactics are being used in Illinois, Drop Site continued, where AIPAC has been quietly spending to benefit the campaigns of Democratic candidates Laura Fine, Donna Miller, and Melissa Bean, who are all facing off against progressive challengers who have been critical of Israel.
What is notable about the Illinois operation is that many past donors to AIPAC and its major affiliated super PAC United Democracy Project (UDP) have been lining up to give individual contributions to the Fine, Miller, and Bean campaigns.
"A whopping 237 former AIPAC/UDP donors have given to both Miller and Bean, contributing $396,288.01 to Bean and $429,083.00 to Miller," the report found. "Forty-four of these donors have given to all three candidates, sending a total of $208,753.33 to them. Several of the donations were given to the candidates on the same day, by the same donors, for the same amounts."
Like in Oregon, the three campaigns have also been propped up by AIPAC-funded super PACs that have been taking out ads that do not mention Israel and instead focus on generic biographical information on the candidates.
Of course, these operations, which Drop Site describes as "impressively coordinated," do not guarantee victory.
AIPAC's UDP super PAC recently spent heavily in a New Jersey Democratic primary that concluded on Thursday to take down former Rep. Tom Malinowski, who earned the group's displeasure when he came out in support of putting conditions on US aid to Israel.
But as Forward reported Friday, the campaign proved ineffective against Malinowski, who at the moment is in a dead heat with Analilia Mejia, a progressive candidate who has been even more critical of Israel.
"Whether or not Malinowski ultimately wins, AIPAC will have failed to achieve its goal of electing a Democrat in the primary who it views as being more supportive of Israel," wrote Forward, "either Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill or former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way. And if Mejia wins, AIPAC will have helped elect a progressive who is less supportive of Israel."
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Citing Threat of 'Authoritarian Regime,' Judge Orders ICE to Stop Tear-Gassing Protesters in Oregon
In "a well-functioning constitutional democratic republic," said US District Judge Michael Simon, "free speech, courageous newsgathering, and nonviolent protest are all permitted, respected, and even celebrated."
Feb 04, 2026
Warning that President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigrant communities, protesters who speak out for civil and human rights, and journalists who are reporting on the president's mass deportation campaign has placed the nation at a "crossroads," a US judge on Tuesday temporarily barred federal agents from launching tear gas, projectiles, and other chemicals at demonstrators in Portland, Oregon.
US District Judge Michael Simon in the District of Oregon ruled that for at least the next 14 days—a period that could be extended—federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security or other agencies can no longer use chemical or projectile munitions like tear gas or pepper balls unless the specific target poses an imminent threat of physical harm to a law enforcement officer or someone else.
Officers are also prohibited from firing any munition at a person's head, neck, or torso except in cases where deadly force would be justified, and from using a less lethal munition if doing so would endanger someone who doesn't pose an imminent threat.
Simon emphasized that he arrived at the ruling in order to preserve the United States' status as "a well-functioning constitutional democratic republic."
In such a country, wrote Simon, free speech, courageous newsgathering, and nonviolent protest are all permitted, respected, and even celebrated."
"In an authoritarian regime, that is not the case," he continued. "Our nation is now at a crossroads. We have been here before and have previously returned to the right path, notwithstanding an occasional detour. In helping our nation find its constitutional compass, an impartial and independent judiciary operating under the rule of law has a responsibility that it may not shirk."
The ruling pertains to the vicinity of the Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Building, which has been at the center of protests against the agency's arrests and detention of immigrants in the Portland area.
Simon handed down the ruling days after thousands of residents assembled near the building to speak out against Trump's anti-immigration agenda, in which a majority of the people who have been detained in recent months have had no criminal records despite the president's claims that ICE is targeting the "worst of the worst" violent offenders. DHS agents have shot at least 13 people since September, and have killed two—Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. An off-duty ICE agent also fatally shot Keith Porter in Los Angeles.
The protest on Saturday in Portland was nonviolent and family-friendly, with children and senior citizens among those who gathered to speak out against the killings, deportations, and detentions.
But ICE agents nonetheless deployed tear gas at the crowd. They did so again the next day when hundreds of protesters rallied at City Hall and marched to the ICE Building. DHS claimed the protesters “threw objects at law enforcement and rocks at cameras." lreported that it had not verified those claims.
This is indefensible.
During an Alex Pretti memorial bike ride in SW Portland, federal agents deployed tear gas as children were present.
Video shows a child believed to be around 7 years old fleeing the gas.
This is what “law enforcement” looks like now.
U.S. Immigration and… pic.twitter.com/PvJuyUSn1w
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) February 1, 2026
The ACLU, which filed a legal complaint to the judge Sunday night on behalf of protesters who had been affected by ICE's use of tear gas, said Tuesday that "not only are DHS’s extreme actions violating protesters’ First Amendment rights, but they also pose an imminent risk that officers will seriously maim or kill someone, as they have done repeatedly within the last few weeks in other parts of the country."
Kelly Simon, the legal director for ACLU of Oregon, said that "it has been inspiring to see Oregonians rising together with love, nonviolence, and creativity to oppose the Trump administration’s cruelty."
"The Department of Homeland Security’s pattern of violently retaliating against protesters and documenters flies in the face of any notion of order, safety, or freedom," she said. "This ruling affirms that, in Oregon, we still love our neighbors and believe in the power of our constitutional freedoms, including the freedoms of assembly, speech, and the press, to build a better future for all of us."
In its filing, the ACLU described several alleged acts of violence and excessive force by federal agents against peaceful protesters and journalists, including the use of a chemical impact munition against an 84-year-old woman who was "peacefully holding a sign on a public street" when she was hit in the head. She walked home "soaked in blood" and was later diagnosed with a concussion at an emergency department.
A freelance journalist was also allegedly shot in the groin with projectile munitions and suffered bruises, and on another occasion was maced in the face by an officer.
Jack Dickinson, a protester who has been dubbed the Portland Chicken for the chicken costume he's worn at anti-ICE demonstrations, said he was "grateful that Judge Simon agreed that cruelty is not an appropriate response to dissent."
"Since June, the Trump regime has subjected people in Portland to chemical weapons and violence because they are offended by our words," said Dickinson. "This administration should hear our grievances and halt their barbaric treatment of our communities. Until then, I hope Portland will continue to show up and exercise our First Amendment rights. Our voices are needed most in times like now."
Federal agents' use of tear gas and other chemicals also prompted a separate lawsuit recently, with a property management company joining a group of residents in an apartment building about 100 feet from the ICE building suing DHS because tear gas has clouded their homes for months—forcing some to sleep wearing gas masks.
One resident said she was also struck by rubber bullets that left her with welts and bruises.
Lawsuits challenging federal agents' deployment of chemicals and munitions have also been filed in Minnesota and Chicago.
An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for March 2 in Simon's courtroom regarding the question of whether the court should grant a preliminary injunction, further limiting the use of tear gas and other weapons against protesters and journalists.
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‘You Have Lost All Legitimacy’: Portland Mayor Demands ICE Leave City After Tear Gassing Kids
"To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children."
Feb 02, 2026
The mayor of Portland, Oregon demanded that federal immigration enforcement officials leave his city after they were seen lobbing tear gas and flash bang grenades at demonstrators.
As reported by The Oregonian on Sunday, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson reacted with outrage after seeing federal agents deploying tear gas and firing rubber bullets at thousands of protesters who on Saturday marched to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the city's South Waterfront neighborhood.
Wilson called the agents' attacks on protesters a vast overreaction to a "peaceful daytime protest, where the vast majority of those present violated no laws, made no threat, and posed no danger to federal forces" stationed at the facility.
“To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave,” Wilson said. "Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame."
The mayor also heaped scorn on federal agents for employing such tactics when several children were present in the crowd.
"To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children," he said. "Ask yourselves why you continue to work for an agency responsible for murders on American streets. No one is forcing you to lie to yourself, even as your bosses continue to lie to the American people."
Erin Hoover Barnett, a former Oregonian reporter who attended the demonstration, told the paper that she saw "what looked like two guys with rocket launchers" who started dousing the crowd with tear gas on Saturday.
"To be among parents frantically trying to tend to little children in strollers," she said, "people using motorized carts trying to navigate as the rest of us staggered in retreat, unsure of how to get to safety, was terrifying."
A Portland protester identified only as Robin gave an account similar to Barnett's during an interview with local news station KPTV.
"About eight or 10 of them came out with guns whatever kind of guns they have and flash bombed just started throwing them at the crowd just exploding everywhere," said Robin. "It was like a war zone. It felt like we were under attack. I definitely got hit. I had to run around the corner and pour a bunch of water on my face."
One local protester identified only as Celeste told local news station KOIN 6 that she was out on the streets because she wanted to "fight tyranny."
"What’s happening in our streets with ICE is ridiculous," said Celeste. "It’s illegal. It’s got to be stopped. And no one’s going to stop it. Except we the people. We’ve got a tyrant in the White House, and no one will stop him but us.”
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New State Laws Aim to Protect Environment, Consumers as Trump Wages All-Out War on Climate
"The gridlock and partisanship we see in Washington, DC can be dispiriting. But history shows that states can build momentum that eventually leads to change at the federal level."
Dec 29, 2025
Even as President Donald Trump and his administration have been ripping up environmental and consumer protection regulations, a number of state laws are set to take effect next year that could at least mitigate some of the damage.
A Monday statement from Environment America and the Public Interest Network highlighted a number of new laws aimed at curbing corporate polluters and enhancing consumer welfare.
First, the groups highlighted "Right to Repair" laws set to take effect in Washington, Nevada, Oregon, and Colorado, which give people the right to repair their own appliances and electronics without burdensome costs or barriers.
The groups lavished particular praise on Colorado's "Right to Repair" laws that they said provide "the broadest repair protections in the country," with new regulations that will give businesses in the state "access to what they and independent repair providers need to fix their electronics themselves."
Illinois, meanwhile, will fully phase out the sale of fluorescent lightbulbs, which will be replaced by energy-efficient LED bulbs. The groups estimate that eliminating the fluorescent bulbs will collectively save Illinois households more than $1.5 billion on their utility bills by 2050, while also reducing energy waste and mercury pollution.
Illinois also drew praise for enacting a ban on polystyrene foam foodware that will take effect on January 1.
The groups also highlighted the work being done in Oregon to protect consumers with legislation mandating price transparency to eliminate surprise junk fees on purchases; prohibiting ambulance companies from socking out-of-network patients with massive fees for rides to nearby hospitals; and placing new restrictions on the ability of medical debt to negatively impact a person's credit score.
California also got a mention in the groups' release for closing a loophole that allowed supermarkets to continue using plastic bags and for creating a new privacy tool for consumers allowing them to request that online data brokers delete all of the personal information they have gathered on them over the years.
Emily Rusch, vice president and senior director of state offices for the Public Interest Network, contrasted the action being taken in the states to protect consumers and the environment with a lack of action being done at the federal level.
"The gridlock and partisanship we see in Washington, DC can be dispiriting," said Rusch. "But history shows that states can build momentum that eventually leads to change at the federal level. As we build on this progress in 2026, we look forward to working with anyone—Republican, Democrat, or independent—with whom we can find common ground."
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'I’m Scared For My Parents': Oregon Teen Pleads With City Council to Rein In ICE
“As a 16-year-old, I shouldn’t be scared," said the boy at a meeting in a Portland suburb. "I should be focusing on school.”
Nov 07, 2025
The testimony of a 16-year-old from Hillsboro, Oregon at a city council meeting this week gave a clear picture of what it's like to be a young person in a community that's been targeted by President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign, with the boy describing his fear of being detained by masked federal agents at school or of his parents being taken away while they are at work.
“I just want to tell you guys that I’m scared for my parents to walk out the house because I might not be able to say goodbye to them if they go to work,” the teenager, who was identified as Manny, told Hillsboro City Council on Tuesday at a meeting where residents of the Portland suburb gave more than three hours of public testimony on the impact of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the town.
The Portland Immigration Rights Coalition told Oregon Public Broadcasting this week that at least 135 people have been arrested by ICE and other federal agencies in Washington County, where Hillsboro is located, since Trump deployed them to the Portland area.
The county, which is the most diverse in Oregon, declared a state of emergency this week over immigration enforcement, allowing officials to use $200,000 in contingency funds for community organizations that help residents impacted by the surge in arrests.
Manny was one of many residents who spoke at the meeting, calling on city councilors to do more to oppose the federal operations and demand that city police work to protect the community from ICE.
“I might not ever be able to say bye or see [my parents] again if you guys don’t side with us," he said in the statement, which went viral on social media after the meeting. "And I’m scared because of it, because they fought so hard to come here and choose a life for their kids.”
Devastating— “I’m afraid for my parents to leave the house. They treat us like dogs because of the color of our skin. I shouldn’t be scared, I should be focusing on school.”
A 16yo American living in fear of the Trump regime’s ICE goons terrorizing brown people pleads for help. pic.twitter.com/fDgKfLPeHl
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) November 6, 2025
He drew applause when he said Trump "acts like a child," and went on to describe the anxiety he lives with daily as federal agents make arrests in the area.
"I'm scared that I'm never going to be able to see all my friends again, I'm scared that their parents are gonna be gone one day, I'm scared that all of us are gonna have to fend for ourselves, and I'm scared that one day at school, that I'm gonna get held by people... that I can't identify because they wear masks," he said.
“As a 16-year-old, I shouldn’t be scared," he added. "I should be focusing on school.”
Other residents described being afraid to send their children to school, and Juan Pedro Moreno Olmeda, a soccer coach at Hillsboro High Shool, was joined by several students as he described the toll ICE arrests are taking on children in the community.
"We recently had one of our teammates lose a father and two uncles, and another lose their older brother; they were taken by ICE,” Moreno Olmeda said. “I want you to look at these kids and think about all the sacrifices that they would have to go through to become that financial pillar for their household. They would maybe have to stop going to school. They would have to give up on soccer for sure. They would have to find jobs in order to become that pillar for their household.”
Hillsboro resident Sandra Nuñez-Smith added that her brother had been arrested by ICE in front of his stepson.
“He had just gotten into his car, and his stepson was barely getting into the back seat when he was pushed out of the way by an ICE agent—or bounty hunter—so they could get to my brother,” she told council members. “He was wrongfully taken due to a paperwork error at the county clerk’s office. He was not given his rights or due process, and no effort was made to investigate the current status of his case.”
Hillsboro is a sanctuary city and its police do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, but Mayor Beach Pace and Police Chief Jim Coleman said last month that city authorities also "cannot intervene in ICE operations and cannot assist or protect individuals from federal arrest or legal consequences if they interfere with ICE operations."
Manny was among the residents who called on the City Council to pass ordinances to protect residents, hold masked and unidentified agents accountable for assaulting and detaining people, and provide guidance to local businesses on prohibiting ICE from their premises.
Police, said Hillsboro resident and former Washington County sheriff’s deputy Red Wortham, "can set a standard. They can document what happens, respond to emergency calls, and make it clear that follow-up will occur later."
"It is a significant failure of law enforcement to ignore calls," said Wortham, "about terrifying, dangerous, armed takeovers of cars, businesses, and people by seemingly private armed thugs in masks.”
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Governors Warn of 'Martial Law' and Trump 'Invasion' as US Judge Halts Troop Order—for Now
"This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness," declared Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Oct 06, 2025
A federal judge in Oregon issued a new and broader order on Sunday night to halt President Donald Trump from deploying any National Guard troops—regardless of their state of origin—to Oregon, Illinois, or elsewhere, as Democratic governors resisting the president warned of a frightening escalation in his authoritarian tendencies.
U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut, who on Saturday ruled that Trump could not lawfully federalize National Guard troops from California for deployment to Portland, Oregon, issued a second order after the president mobilized 400 National Guard troops out of Texas, with the blessing of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, to deploy instead.
"It seems to me that based on the conduct of the defendants and the now seeking National Guard from Texas to go to Oregon again, I see those as direct contravention of the order [...] issued yesterday," said Immergut, nominated to the federal bench by Trump during his first term.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who brought the challenge with the request for a temporary restraining order (TRO), explained the ruling and the events leading up to it in a Sunday night video statement:
Late tonight, a federal judge issued a sweeping new order prohibiting the president from deploying National Guard forces—from any state or DC—to Oregon.
The president can’t keep playing whack-a-mole w/ different states’ Guard units to get around court orders & the rule of law. pic.twitter.com/X8hhZBSFhx
— Attorney General Dan Rayfield (@AGDanRayfield) October 6, 2025
California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose administration had challenged the order to send the California soldiers, applauded the ruling after calling Trump's effort to send the Texas troops "a breathtaking abuse of the law and power by the President of the United States."
"America is on the brink of martial law," said Newsom. "Do not be silent."
According to the Associated Press:
Approximately 100 California National Guard troops landed in Portland after midnight Sunday and around 100 more arrived by early evening, Alan Gronewold, commander of Oregon’s National Guard, said in a court filing before the emergency hearing late Sunday.
The state of Oregon also included in its filing a memo written by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that ordered up to 400 Texas National Guard personnel activated for deployment to Oregon, Illinois and possibly elsewhere.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, also a Democrat, issued a stark warning about the president's effort to send soldiers to Chicago, where ramped-up immigration enforcement raids have roiled the city and terrorized community members.
"We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion," said Pritzer. "It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops."
"The president is abusing his power, attempting to militarize our cities. The power of the people must remain greater than the people in power. We need to show up in peaceful protest across this nation. Stay Loud!"
—Rep. Maxine Dexter
Pritzker called on Abbott to withdraw his support for Trump's deployment, saying, "There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation."
As of this writing, the Trump administration had not responded to Immergut's latest ruling, but an appeal to a higher court is nearly certain.
Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) said while the latest TRO was a vital development, sustained and peaceful protest against Trump's march toward a militarized dictatorship remains essential.
"We cannot rest," said Dexter. "The president is abusing his power, attempting to militarize our cities. The power of the people must remain greater than the people in power. We need to show up in peaceful protest across this nation. Stay Loud!"
Important update! Judge Karin Immergut just issued a broader temporary restraining order that precludes any National Guard troops from being in Oregon for 14 days.
We cannot rest. The President is abusing his power, attempting to militarize our cities. The power of the people… pic.twitter.com/Ii4J1JRpBS
— Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (@RepDexterOR) October 6, 2025
In a Saturday statement, in response to Immergut's initial TRO blocking the deployment of the troops from California, Hina Shamsi of the ACLU said it was vital for the court to block Trump's dangerous move.
"As the founders of this country made abundantly clear, turning troops on civilians is an intolerable threat to our liberties,” said Shamsi.
"When President Trump is trying his best to imperil our First Amendment rights and scare those protesting his cruel policies into silence," she said, "it’s encouraging to see this court ruling based on adherence to law and facts, not the President’s fantasies of beautiful, vibrant American cities as hellscapes.”
In a similar joint statement, the Not Above the Law coalition warned that Trump's effort to deploy Illinois National Guard troops despite Prizker's objection "isn't about public safety, it's about testing how far a president can override elected state leaders and deploy forces against American communities."
"Turning troops on civilians is an intolerable threat to our liberties."
—Hina Shamsi, ACLU
“The pattern is clear and dangerous. Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Portland, and now Illinois – each time against the will of local officials," said the coalition's co-chairs in their statement. "Our armed forces exist to defend the nation and protect our freedoms – not to patrol our own streets. And our nation’s brave servicemembers should not be used as the political pawns of a would-be authoritarian."
The coalition leaders said that lawmakers in Congress, who are nowhere to be seen this weekend due to Republicans in the House holding the chamber in recess, "must act now to prevent any president from weaponizing our National Guard this way. Whether you're a red or a blue state, every American should be alarmed when federal troops are deployed over the objections of local authorities. Americans in every community must speak out now. Stopping this abuse of power is essential to protecting our freedoms and our democracy.”
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Oregon Files Suit Against Trump to Stop 'Unlawful' National Guard Deployment
"We won’t be cowed, and we can’t let this president normalize military and armed federal policing in our country. This is not how a healthy democracy works.”
Sep 29, 2025
Calling a move by President Donald Trump to deploy National Guard soldiers to the city of Portland, Oregon, completely "unlawful," state and city officials on Sunday filed a lawsuit to block the effort as they accused the Trump White House of overstepping its authority.
The 41-page federal lawsuit challenging the "unlawful deployment" order was filed in the US District Court of Oregon and names Trump as well as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
A statement from the office of Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield says the lawsuit, backed by Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, argues that Trump "lacks authority" under Title 10 of the US code, which only permits federalization of National Guard troops, typically under the command of state governors, "only in circumstance of invasion, rebellion, or when federal laws cannot otherwise be executed. None of those circumstances exist in Oregon."
The suit, which states that the "heavy-handed deployment of troops threatens to escalate tensions" and foment "new unrest" in the city, asks the court for immediate relief by declaring the Trump administration's order unlawful and halting any such deployment.
"Oregon communities are stable, and our local officials have been clear: we have the capacity to manage public safety without federal interference," said Rayfield. "Sending in 200 National Guard troops to guard a single building is not normal."
"What we're seeing is not about public safety," he continued, "it's about the President flexing political muscle under the guise of law and order, chasing a media hit at the expense of our community."
As of 2pm today - less than 6 hours after receiving formal notice that the President had federalized Oregon’s National Guard in Portland - we filed a lawsuit.
The president has overstepped his authority.
#portland #nationalguard #orpol pic.twitter.com/GjO7yp9Wi4
— Attorney General Dan Rayfield (@AGDanRayfield) September 28, 2025
The ACLU on Sunday characterized Trump's claim that Portland was "war-ravaged" as false on its face and condemned the order as illegal and dangerous.
"This major escalation from the President and the federal government has no place in our politics or our communities,” said Sandy Chung, ACLU of Oregon’s executive director. “Oregonians have for months been exercising their constitutional right to criticize cruel federal policies. A forcible deployment of federal troops and armed law enforcement violates our right to govern ourselves and endangers our families and freedoms.”
In a news interview on Sunday, Rayfield denounced the numerous and "absurd" things Trump has both said and done in the name of "public safety" that are wholly counter to what's needed.
"If you really wanted public safety, you wouldn’t threaten to send the United States military into any city. What you’d do is pick up the phone and work toward collaboration—finding out what resources a community actually needs," Rayfield said.
"I know for a fact, from talking to cities across Oregon and across the country, that if you pick up the phone and ask, 'What do you need? What could be helpful?' The answer would not be the United States military."
Oregon AG Rayfield: If you really wanted public safety, you wouldn’t threaten to send the United States military into any city.
What you’d do is pick up the phone and work toward collaboration—finding out what resources a community actually needs.
I know for a fact, from… pic.twitter.com/ndaJRlxP0g
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 28, 2025
Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, put the situation in Portland in a broader context, as it's not the first city where Trump has aimed National Guard soldiers, and it's unlikely to be the last.
“Like for other cities, President Trump’s justification for deploying troops and armed federal agents to Portland is blatantly false and inflammatory, as well as jeopardizes residents’ fundamental liberties,” warned Shamsi.
"After a harrowing week for our First Amendment freedoms, we see the President’s strategy for what it is—an attempt to create conflict where there is none, sow fear in our communities, and intimidate people from exercising their constitutional rights," she added. "But we won’t be cowed, and we can’t let this president normalize military and armed federal policing in our country. This is not how a healthy democracy works.”
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As Heatwave Cooks US, 150+ Groups Urge Leaders to Ban Deadly Utility Shutoffs
"Millions of lives are at risk this week as extreme heat scorches our country," said one campaigner. "Trump and his billionaire buddies will have blood on their hands."
Jun 24, 2025
With extreme temperatures fueled by human-caused global heating gripping much of the United States, a coalition of more than 150 advocacy groups on Tuesday urged federal, state, and local elected leaders to ban potentially deadly utility disconnections, increase worker protections, and tax polluters to finance renewable energy.
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) led two letters—one to Democratic congressional leaders and another to governors and mayors—arguing that U.S. President Donald Trump "has put millions of lives at risk by dismantling federal agencies and lifesaving programs that help working families keep their homes cool and survive deadly heatwaves like the one this week."
"Since taking office Trump has stripped Americans of access to lifesaving measures, including the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program, which help more than 8 million working families pay their utility bills," CBD noted.
"Every day of extreme heat in the United States claims about 154 lives."
The Trump administration has also laid off staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, "crippling the agency's ability to help communities before and after disaster strikes. And the country's first-ever proposed federal heat standard, which would prevent heat-related illness and injury in workplaces, is stalled after staff cuts at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration."
CBD said that extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related phenomenon, "claiming more lives each year than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined."
"Every day of extreme heat in the United States claims about 154 lives," the group added. "In the past seven years there has been a nearly 17% increase each year in heat-related deaths. Among those most harmed by extreme heat are outdoor workers and children."
The diverse groups signing the letter—which include Climate Justice Alliance, Food & Water Watch, Free Press Action, Friends of the Earth U.S., Sunrise Movement, and Utility Workers Union of America—centered the voices of people who are most vulnerable to exposure to extreme heat, including outdoor workers like José, a Florida roofer.
"I've felt dizzy, weak, unable to breathe, with cramps, and my heart beats very fast, desperate," the 24-year-old said. "The heat suffocates me and many times I've been close to going to the hospital. While working on the roofs, it feels like the heat is over 110°F or 115°F and we only take one or two short breaks. I need this work to survive, but as the summers get hotter, I worry that one day I will collapse."
CBD senior attorney and energy justice program director Jean Su said in a statement Tuesday that "millions of lives are at risk this week as extreme heat scorches our country. Trump and his billionaire buddies will have blood on their hands."
"Corporations are taking advantage of working people and stripping them of access to lifesaving utilities, clean water, and a safe and resilient future," Su added. "Congress and especially state leaders must deliver emergency relief and tax greedy polluters who are endangering our lives and the climate. Everyone deserves heat-resilient homes, schools, and workplaces."
Will Humble, executive director of letter signatory Arizona Public Health Association, said: "We're not asking for the moon here. We're just looking for state and federal officials to help keep people alive during the summertime."
"Heat kills as many people in Arizona as influenza and pneumonia, and every one of those heat deaths is preventable," Humble added. "The least our elected officials can do is make sure people have places of refuge from these deadly fossil fuel-driven heatwaves. We also need stronger limits on summertime electricity shutoffs, so people aren't dying because the utility company has turned off their power."
"We're just looking for state and federal officials to help keep people alive during the summertime."
Last week, Oregon became the latest of more than two dozen states to ban power disconnections during high summer heat. However, as CBD and others have noted, utilities still find ways to shut off utilities during hot periods.
Six major investor-owned utilities—Georgia Power, DTE Energy, Duke Energy, Ameren Corporation, Pacific Gas & Electric, and Arizona Public Service—"shut off power to households at least 400,000 times during the summertime," according to a CBD report published in January. Those six utilities raked in $10 billion in profits while collectively hiking their customers' rates by at least $3.5 billion since 2023.
"Mayors and governors must act now with bold, local solutions, including expanded public transit and community-centered strategies like neighborhood cooling hubs," Climate Justice Alliance executive director KD Chavez said in a statement. "We also urge stronger labor protections, including municipal and state-level heat standards, to protect postal workers, farmworkers, and all outdoor workers who are increasingly exposed to deadly heat without adequate safeguards."
"Extreme heat has been endangering communities across the country," Chavez added. "We're feeling it closely this week and know it will only get worse. Our growing dependence on aging buildings, air conditioning and a fragile, fossil fuel-dependent power grid is putting lives at risk, especially in frontline, low-income neighborhoods and U.S. territories without government representation."
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Oregon Medical Workers Launch Largest Healthcare Strike in State History
Over 5,000 frontline healthcare professionals walked off the job at Providence hospitals and clinics across the Beaver State.
Jan 10, 2025
Thousands of Oregon medical caregivers at Providence hospitals launched what organizers are calling the largest healthcare strike in state history Friday as they fight for improved patient care, fair wages, and better working conditions in their new contract.
Around 5,000 nurses, doctors, midwives, and other healthcare professionals began their indefinite strike at 6:00 am local time Friday, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Workers walked off the job at Providence hospitals including: St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Providence Portland, Providence Willamette Falls in Oregon City, Providence Milwaukie, Providence Hood River, Providence Seaside, Providence Newberg, and Providence Medford. Numerous clinics are also affected.
Striking nurses are seeking higher wages, better nurse-to-patient ratios, more paid time off, and lower out-of-pocket costs on their healthcare plans. Doctors want Providence to cap hospital admissions when patient numbers climb too high.
"We're asking for competitive compensation that reflects the reality of our work, the long hours, the emotional toll, and the ever-growing demands that are placed on us," Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) member Gina Ottinger, a registered nurse, told the Oregon Capital Chronicle on Friday. "We're asking for wages that keep pace with inflation."
Healthcare workers' unions are also asking for employment guarantees should Providence sell off their hospitals. The unions have also flagged contract alignment issues; Providence favors a three-year deal, while workers are seeking two-year agreements.
"This strike could have been avoided," ONA executive director Anne Tan Piazza
said at a Thursday press conference. "We need Providence to stop refusing to negotiate and come back to the table."
In a recent statement explaining the strike, ONA said: "Providence is a $30 billion corporation whose top executives make million-dollar salaries and are too focused on profits and not enough on high-quality patient care. Providence's outgoing CEO made more than $12 million in 2024."
"The corporatization of healthcare has left many Providence employees frustrated and burnt out as they are being told to spend less and less time with patients and more time trying to drive up profits," the union added. "Providence offers their employees healthcare plans that are far worse than other healthcare systems, with some Providence employees having to pay $5,000 out of pocket to receive services at the place they work."
“The corporatization of health care has left many Providence employees frustrated and burnt out as they are being told to spend less ..time with patients and more time trying to drive up profits."5,000 Oregon doctors, RNS & caregivers will be on strike starting Jan 10 www.wweek.com/news/2024/12...
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— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten.bsky.social) January 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Providence officials say the company has made "competitive offers" to hospital bargaining units, "including double-digit pay increases for hospital nurses representing more than $12,000 a year for a typical nurse."
In a Friday statement referencing Oregon's mandatory 10-day strike notice period, Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said that "Providence wasted 10 days when they could have been at the table making progress towards a comprehensive resolution of their labor dispute."
"We must take care of the people who take care of Oregonians—all hospital staff deserve a fair contract," she added. "Oregonians are already experiencing disruptions to care. All parties must return to the table immediately to resolve their disagreements so normal operations and care can resume."
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