Tammy Duckworth on Trump's Boat Strikes, National Guard Deployments, and ACA Subsidies

National Guard Deployment Concerns

• ⚠️ Senator Duckworth initiated a hearing to scrutinize the cost of Trump's domestic deployments of the National Guard, citing it as too high a price for service members, civil rights, and public trust.
• 💰 The deployment has cost taxpayers at least $340 million, which Duckworth argues could have hired 9,000 police officers instead.
• 🎯 She criticized the deployment's strategic rationale, pointing out that Texas has a higher crime rate than Chicago, where National Guard troops were sent.
• 🚫 Concerns were raised that the administration sought to normalize uniformed troops on city streets and potentially use them at polling stations, which could intimidate the American people and violate the Posse Comitatus Act by performing law enforcement functions.
• 💸 The administration diverted over $800 million from law enforcement grants and violence prevention programs to fund these deployments, which included tasks like "mulch and pull weeds."

Scrutiny of Boat Strikes

• 🚢 The U.S. military has struck 25 vessels since September, resulting in over 90 deaths, with particular scrutiny on a "double tap" strike where a boat was hit again after survivors were seen clinging to it.
• 🗣️ Despite initial indications from President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hexath stated that a top-secret, unedited video of the strike would not be released to the public.
• ⚖️ Duckworth believes the Trump administration's actions in these strikes are in violation of domestic and international law, as well as the U.S. Constitution.
• ❓ Key questions remain regarding justification under international law, the evidence used to authorize military force against individuals on boats, and the lack of transparency due to classification.
• ⚠️ The second strike on survivors in the water is considered a violation of the law of the sea and norms, as aid should be rendered to those in distress.
• ✈️ Duckworth expressed concern that violating the Geneva Convention puts American pilots in jeopardy, as other nations may retaliate by violating the same laws against U.S. servicemen and women.
• 💰 She suggested that funds spent on these strikes could be better allocated to the Coast Guard and law enforcement for more effective drug interdiction.

Healthcare and ACA Subsidies

• 📉 Both dueling healthcare bills in the Senate failed, leaving enhanced ACA subsidies set to expire, potentially causing premiums to skyrocket for over 20 million people.
• 💔 Democrats have a plan to prevent premium increases, but Republican colleagues voted against it, which Duckworth described as abandoning their constituents.
• 📈 One constituent faces an increase in health insurance premiums from $3,000 to over $10,000 annually, forcing a difficult choice about coverage.
• 💰 The Republican proposal to replace enhanced ACA tax credits with direct payments of up to $1,500 into HSA accounts was criticized as an insult, insufficient to cover even an ambulance ride, and likely to push middle-class Americans into medical bankruptcy.
• 🚫 Duckworth believes Republicans intend for the subsidies to expire as part of a long-term goal to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and return to a system where pre-existing conditions are not covered and drug prices cannot be negotiated.