Trump Can’t Deploy National Guard in Los Angeles, Judge Says (1)

A federal judge said the Trump administration can’t deploy the California National Guard in Los Angeles and must relinquish control of the troops to Governor Gavin Newsom, the latest setback in the administration’s bid to use soldiers to respond to civilian protests.

US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco sided with California and said in a Wednesday ruling that the administration can’t federalize and deploy the state’s National Guard in Los Angeles while Newsom’s lawsuit proceeds. He put the ruling on hold until Dec. 15 to give the government time to appeal.

Breyer said the federal government appears to be seeking a “blank check” allowing it to federalize state forces at will, “effectively creating a national police force made up of state troops.”

Although the number of troops has dwindled since the original deployment, the ruling still marks a key victory for Newsom, who has sought to block President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in Los Angeles since June. So far, court orders have kept the troops under the federal government’s control.

“Six months after they first federalized the California National Guard, defendants still retain control of approximately 300 Guardsmen, despite no evidence that execution of federal law is impeded in any way — let alone significantly,” Breyer said.

Breyer’s ruling is not the final word in the case, as the Trump administration could appeal to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, and the White House indicated that it would go to the higher court.

“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to deploy National Guard troops to support federal officers and assets following violent riots that local leaders like Newscum refused to stop,” Abigail Jackson, White House spokeswoman, said in a statement. “We look forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”

California’s case is one of several ongoing lawsuits between local governments and federal authorities over the president’s authority to use military forces to respond to civilian protests.

Separate lawsuits in Chicago, Portland and Washington DC have been making their way through the courts. In November, a federal judge in Portland ruled that the administration’s plan to deploy troops in the city was unlawful — the first time a court has ruled on the legal merits of the effort.

“Today’s ruling is abundantly clear — the federalization of the National Guard in California is illegal and must end,” Newsom said in a statement. “The president deployed these brave men and women against their own communities, removing them from essential public safety operations. We look forward to all National Guard servicemembers being returned to state service.”

Posse Comitatus Act

While Breyer has yet to rule on the legality of the deployment, he has issued a final ruling on a different element of the California case. Following a trial, Breyer ruled in September that the deployment violated a more-than century old statute called the Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids the military from enforcing domestic laws except during limited circumstances such as an insurrection.

His order focused on the scope of what troops on the ground are permitted to do — not the question of whether they are lawfully present in the city. The order was paused by the 9th Circuit and the case is ongoing.

Los Angeles was the first city Trump targeted with the deployment of troops. In June, he deployed 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles with the mission of quelling unrest in the city and protecting federal property and personnel from demonstrators protesting the president’s immigration policy.

The case is Newsom v. Trump, 3:25-cv-04870, US District Court, Northern District of California.

(Updates with White House statement in seventh paragraph, comment from Governor Newsom in 10th.)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Madlin Mekelburg in Austin at mmekelburg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Anthony Aarons, Steve Stroth

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