Minnesota senator on deployment of National Guard troops to L.A. and spending bill

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) spoke with Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan Sunday about the President Donald Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard in Los Angeles.

The Trump Administration announced Saturday it was deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles in response to large-scale protests which erupted Saturday following dozens of arrests Friday in citywide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.

President Trump's memo stated that at least 2,000 National Guard troops were being deployed under the president's Title 10 authority "for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense."

Brennan brought up her previous interview with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who compared what's happening in L.A. to what happened in Minneapolis back in 2020, prompting Brennan to ask Senator Klobuchar what advise she would give to Governor Gavin Newsom, to which she said:

"Every governor is going to make their own decisions based on the situation. In this case, Governor Newsom has made clear that he wants local law enforcement protecting the citizens, and he has asked the president not to inflame the situation. In Governor Walz' case, as you pointed out in the earlier segment, he did bring in the National Guard. I would also point out that on January 6, I was there as well, and what I saw there was, the president didn't bring in the National Guard when over 100 police officers were injured or hurt or worse. And so I think it is quite, let's say, ironic, probably doesn't fit this situation, when you have got administration officials talking about protecting police officers after what happened on January 6. And when I look at what's going on in California or across the country, of course, as a congressman said, you want to get dangerous criminals out of our midst, out of our communities, but when you look at where the American people are, they want to make sure you follow the law and that there's due process, and you don't want to inflame things by threatening to bring in the Marines, or deporting people based on a mistake."

During the interview, Brennan said this is second time the President of the United States deployed the National Guard without the request from the governor. The first time was back in 1965. When asked what concerns she has about it, Klobuchar said:

"My concern, of course, is that this inflames a situation, and that he is hellbent on inflaming the situation. Individual governors look at their states and make decisions, but in this case, the president, time and time again, has shown this willingness to, one, violate the laws we've seen across the country in many different situations outside of the immigration context, and two, inflamed situations. So what do I think he should be doing right now? Who do I think he should be bringing in?"

Later in the interview, Brennan and Klobuchar talked about President Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which is now in the hands of the Senate.

"I think he should be bringing in economists to talk to him right now about what's happening with the debt and with his big, beautiful, betrayal of the middle class, to be talking to him about what's going on with the tariffs and how they are hurting small businesses. I think he should be bringing in the people that I talk to every day, regular people, farmers whose markets are drying up, people who are worried about their moms or their grandmas getting kicked out of their assisted living because of his Medicaid cuts. When Josh Hawley calls this morally bereft, that it's immoral to make these Medicaid cuts, and when Elon Musk comes in and says that this is a disgusting abomination, this bill, and when it is now triggering, get this, Medicare cuts, something that hasn't been discussed yet, because it adds so much to the deficit that rural hospitals are going to get cut, I think that's who he should be listening to right now. Instead of his constant effort for shock and awe and trying to distract people what they care about most, which is the economy and their family situation."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Klobuchar, click here.