California Mobilizes National Guard for Food Bank Aid Amid Federal Shutdown

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the mobilization of the California National Guard to assist food banks amid the federal government shutdown, highlighting an urgent need due to interruptions in federal nutrition aid programs like SNAP affecting millions of Californians. Newsom framed the deployment as a humanitarian effort focused on logistics, distinct from former President Donald Trump's approach, who has threatened to send National Guard troops to San Francisco to address crime, a move met with resistance from city officials including Mayor Daniel Lurie. Lurie emphasized that San Francisco is preparing to respond to any federal troop deployment, maintaining that local law enforcement will not assist military operations, and highlighted legal efforts to block such federal interventions. Concurrently, a legal battle is underway over Trump's deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, with California challenging the legality and duration of the deployment, citing a 147-year-old law against military use against civilians. The dispute reached the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which temporarily halted a restraining order that would return control of the troops to California's governor, leaving troops under presidential control pending further court rulings. These events underscore ongoing tensions between state and federal authorities over the use of military forces in domestic law enforcement and social crises exacerbated by political and economic factors.