Evening Briefing: Americas
Bloomberg Evening Briefing Americas
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Donald Trump has been making a habit of invoking emergency powers to provide legal justification for unprecedented actions, ranging from launching a global trade war without the assent of Congress to using a two century-old wartime law to deprive undocumented immigrants of due process in an effort to deport them. In both cases, legal experts said there was no suitable emergency in the first place, and that the actions violated the letter of the laws being cited. (Also in both examples, litigation ensued that will likely end up before a Supreme Court that’s demonstrated a keen willingness to expand presidential power.)

So when it comes to the Republican president’s latest gambit—invoking yet another emergency power to send National Guard troops to Los Angeles—California Governor Gavin Newsom says Trump has gone and done it again. The state said it is suing the administration for what it calls the illegal deployment of its troops—which the Democratic governor condemned as “illegal and unconstitutional.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom, left, and President Donald Trump at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 24. Photographer: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo

For four days, Los Angeles has witnessed anti-deportation protests sparked by paramilitary-style immigration raids on local workplaces by Trump administration agencies. In taking control of California’s troops, Trump issued a proclamation saying the protests “constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States.” He invoked a law giving him authority to use the National Guard when there is a “rebellion or danger of rebellion” against the country or when he’s “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”

There are a few problems with that, says California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “The language is clear,” he explained. “One, you need to have a rebellion. There’s no rebellion. Or two, you need to have an invasion. There’s no invasion. Three, you need to be unable, with the regular forces, to execute the laws of the United States.” State and local officials have repeatedly said no militarized response was warranted to execute those laws—but to no avail. Trump, who has long criticized both California and Newsom, is said to be escalating the situation further, sending active duty Marines to the city as wellDavid E. Rovella and Natasha Solo-Lyons

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What You Need to Know Today

Bloomberg Opinion
National Guard Deployment in LA Is a Threat to Democracy
The law permits such action only in cases of invasion, rebellion, or danger of a rebellion. This is none of those, Noah Feldman writes. 

Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting itself in half, unshackling its fast-growing streaming business from the struggling legacy media channels and setting up two independent companies that could pursue deals on their own. The new Global Networks business will include entertainment, sports and dozens of cable television brands such as CNN, TNT and TBS and will be headed by Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels. It will hold a 20% stake in the other Streaming and Studios business, headed by Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav, and use proceeds from that entity as a way to cut debt.

Ken Moelis, who became one of the most recognizable dealmakers on Wall Street in his four-decade career, will step down as CEO of his boutique investment bank effective Oct. 1. The 66-year-old banker will take on the role of executive chairman at Moelis & Co. Co-President Navid Mahmoodzadegan will become chief executive and join the bank’s board. Moelis had been saying for years he would step down before he turned 65 to focus more on mergers and acquisitions.

Ken Moelis Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

In an highly controversial step last month, Trump administration health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unilaterally changed the federal recommendations for Covid vaccines to say the shots would no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic with no traditional health background, went a step further on Monday. He fired all 17 members that make up one of the main committees advising the US government on vaccine safety and policy. 

Separately, the US Food and Drug Administration said more than 20 million eggs have been recalled after 21 people were hospitalized with salmonella. The eggs, distributed by the August Egg Co., were sold to retailers including Walmart and Safeway Stores between Feb. 3 and May 19. The sell-by dates ranged from March 4 to June 19, the FDA said.  


 
Barclays is said to be preparing to cut more than 200 jobs in its investment bank in the coming days as part of Chief Executive Officer C.S. Venkatakrishnan’s plan to boost the profitability of the division. Staffers in investment banking, global markets and research will likely be at risk, with managing directors the most senior roles affected. The reduction represents about 3% of the investment bank’s headcount.The cuts are meant to give the bank more capacity to invest in priority areas.


US Senate Republicans said they intend to propose revised tax and health-care provisions to Trump’s economic package this week. The Senate Finance Committee’s plan to extract savings from the Medicaid and possibly Medicare health insurance programs could depart in key respects from the version of the giant bill that narrowly passed the House in May. The release of the panel’s draft will likely touch off a new round of wrangling between GOP fiscal conservatives and moderates, while excluding Democrats. The House bill, projected to add trillions of dollars to the national debt if enacted, is targeting health and food aid for America’s poor and disabled to in part fund tax cuts for wealthier Americans. 


Morgan Stanley is reaching out to a broader pool of investors to shore up demand for a $5 billion debt sale for Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI Corp., a deal that offers a window into the fallout from the billionaire’s feud with Trump. When Morgan Stanley launched the debt offering early last week, it already had more than $3.5 billion in orders. Some investors took that as a sign that the deal would soon be oversubscribed, a goal that has been easily exceeded for other Musk-related offerings. As of Monday, though, demand was only up to around $5 billion, and the bank began reaching out to smaller lenders who had not been given access last week.


New York City
Cuomo Says ‘Socialist’ Tax Hike Will Cause NYC Wealth Exodus
The former governor, now running for mayor, said raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest would push them toward states like Florida and Texas.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

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Private Equity in 401(k)s Isn’t as Smart as It Seems
ETFs & Mutual Funds
Tesla’s Retail Army Defies Musk-Trump Spat to Place Record Bet
Deals
Financier Lex Greensill Decries “Code of Silence” Around SoftBank Deals
Transportation
Waymo Halts LA Service After Cars Destroyed During Protests
Real Estate
NYC’s Sprawling Equinox Gym, Hotel in Hudson Yards Eyed for Sale

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