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Oregon News
Oregon Rep. Hòa Nguyễn passes away after battle with cancer
KOIN 6 | By Andrew Foran
Oregon Representative Hòa Nguyễn passed away Thursday morning at the age of 41 after a battle against cancer, state officials confirmed.
POLITICS
Two years on, Oregon’s transgender health care law faces obstacles
Oregon Capital Chronicle | By Jake Thomas
The law is taking effect as tens of thousands of trans people and families are leaving states that have restricted gender-affirming care for places like Oregon.
The end of this pretrial release program could put Multnomah County in a bind
The Oregonian | By Austin De Dios
State budget cuts may force Multnomah County to end a key pretrial release program that keeps those accused of a crime out of jail until their trial and frees up jail beds.
TRUMP ADMIN VS. OREGON
Many Oregon GOP lawmakers silent as Trump seeks National Guard deployment to Portland
OPB | By Bryce Dole
When the president first announced his plan to call up the Oregon National Guard to protect the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, state Rep. Christine Drazan came out swinging.
She issued a statement Sept. 27, saying the governor and the mayor of Portland’s “assertion that everything is fine is tone-deaf,” but did not specify that she supported a deployment.
Since then, Oregon’s most prominent Republican state lawmaker has issued no public statements or social media posts about President Donald Trump’s move.
A House Republican spokesperson said Monday that Drazan did not support the deployment of National Guard members from other states, only to quickly ask to retract the statement. The spokesperson then said her initial comment was inaccurate.
Asked Tuesday whether the staffer’s comment represented her views, Drazan told OPB the spokesperson does not speak for her and declined an interview request. Her limited response on the topic is in line with many of her fellow GOP lawmakers.
OPB emailed every Republican state lawmaker in Oregon on Monday to ask whether they support the deployment of National Guard members — either from Oregon or other states — to the Rose City. As of Wednesday at 10 a.m., two shared their views with OPB.
Some have spoken out in hearings, social media or in news reports, urging local law enforcement to protect the federal facility, while offering little opinion on the use of military members. Others have been virtually silent.
“I have no response at this time,” said Rep. Virgle J. Osborne, R-Roseburg.
In a statement to OPB, Ashley Kuenzi, the communications director for the Senate Republicans office, said the Democrats “are desperate for the media to focus on their feud with Washington, D.C. instead of their own failures here at home.” Instead of commenting on the potential deployment, she blamed the majority party for the rising cost-of-living in the state.
“While they posture for cameras, everyday Oregonians are literally paying the price. Families are worried about how they’ll afford groceries, rent, and their next tank of gas,” she said, referring to the transportation package approved last week. “It’s time Democrats put down the cameras, pick up the solutions, and get serious about fixing the mess they’ve made.”
Without comprehensive polling, it’s hard to quantify precisely what Oregonians think about the president’s attempts to deploy the National Guard here.
An NPR-Ipsos poll last month found that while seven in 10 Americans believe that crime and violence has reached an unacceptable level, the public broadly doesn’t support the use of the National Guard to police cities. A Reuters poll, published Wednesday, found that about 58% of Americans think the president should only send armed troops to areas facing external threats.
Appeals court judges appear skeptical of Oregon judge’s order blocking troops in Portland
The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein
At least two Trump-appointed judges on a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared ready Thursday to lift an order barring the Trump administration from sending Oregon National Guard troops to Portland.
Kristi Noem calls Oregon leaders liars, says feds will ‘double down’ in Portland
The Oregonian | By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that her agency would “double down” in Portland after state and local leaders rebuffed a series of demands she made during a visit to the city this week.
During a televised Trump administration cabinet meeting, Noem said she would seek to purchase additional facilities in Portland and boost the number of federal officers in the city. She also blasted Gov. Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson as well as Oregon and Portland law enforcement leaders.
“They are all lying and disingenuous and dishonest people because as soon as you leave the room they make the exact opposite response,” Noem said. “I told them that if they didn’t meet our demands for safety and security on the streets and work with us we were going to bring in more federal law enforcement.”
Portland is ‘not a war zone’ but bears scars of 2020, Oregon’s only GOP member of Congress says
The Oregonian | By Sami Edge
Bentz, like other Oregon Republicans, struck a careful tone. He decried violence at the facility and said he believes the Portland Police Bureau needs to step up to better handle the protests. But he stopped short of calling for full-scale intervention by the National Guard.
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