National Guard Troops in LA to Return to Newsom’s Control (1)

A Ninth Circuit panel allowed California Gov. Gavin Newsom to regain control of his state’s National Guard troops after lifting a pause on a lower court’s order Wednesday.

The order comes after the Trump administration agreed in a court filing to let a San Francisco judge’s block on the federalization of troops in LA stand while its appeal of the order is pending, following the US Supreme Court’s rebuke of Trump’s effort to send troops to Chicago.

California Attorney General Bonta in a news release called the administration’s filing a “capitulation.” California National Guard troops will return to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s control for the first time since the federal government sent them to the LA area in June, the release said.

The deployment as immigration enforcement and local protests surged kicked off a pattern of National Guard deployments in other liberal cities.

“While our rule of law remains under threat, our democratic institutions are holding,” Bonta said in a statement. “My office is not backing down—and we’re ready for whatever fights lie ahead.”

US District Judge Charles Breyer Dec. 10 ordered the administration to return control of the state’s National Guard troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom while the governor’s lawsuit is ongoing. The Ninth Circuit paused the order to give the administration time to appeal.

A couple of weeks later, the US Supreme Court blocked the administration’s request to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago. The court said the administration likely didn’t have authority to federalize Illinois troops to help immigration enforcement and efforts to stem alleged violence at protests.

The US Court of Appeals asked the administration after the Supreme Court’s order to explain why the partial administrative stay in California shouldn’t be lifted.

“Without prejudice as to any other arguments defendants may present, defendants do not oppose lifting of the partial administrative stay and hereby respectfully withdraw their motion for a stay pending appeal,” the administration said in a Tuesday filing.

The case is Newsom v. Trump, 9th Cir., No. 25-7781, 12/30/25.