Temporary restraining order issued by judge said president overstepped authority and to hand over control to state governor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A federal judge ruled on Thursday that Donald Trump<\/a> illegally deployed the California national guard to suppress protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles and ordered the force to be returned to the control of the state governor, Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The order by the US district judge Charles Breyer will not take effect until noon on Friday, but it marked a stinging defeat for the Trump administration<\/a> that is sure to touch off a pitched legal battle destined for the US supreme court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In issuing a temporary restraining order against Trump, Breyer found the president had failed to show there was a \u201crebellion\u201d in Los Angeles<\/a> that required him to federalize the guard and failed to comply with the procedural steps to notify the governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis actions were illegal \u2013 both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He must therefore return control of the California<\/a> National Guard to the Governor,\u201d Breyer wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The request for the injunction is part of a lawsuit filed by the state of California challenging Trump\u2019s move to call up more than 4,000 national guard troops and about 700 active-duty marines based in Twentynine Palms, California, over Newsom\u2019s objections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur success today in court is a win for all Americans,\u201d Newsom said in a statement shortly after the order. \u201cThe president\u2019s action to turn the military against its own citizens threatened our democracy and moved us dangerously close to authoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision came hours after a hearing in federal district court in San Francisco where the justice department argued Trump had the sole and unreviewable power to decide whether there was a \u201crebellion\u201d that needed federal intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breyer rejected both arguments in his sweeping 36-page opinion<\/a>, effectively rebuking the justice department for trying to suggest the conditions to take control of the guard had been met as long as Trump had decided himself that was the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe president\u2019s discretion in what to do next does not mean that the president can unilaterally and without judicial review declare that a vacancy exists in order to fill it. That is classic ipse dixit,\u201d Breyer wrote, adding that the definition of rebellion had clearly not been met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breyer was also skeptical of the justice department\u2019s contention that Trump had followed the procedural step of ordering the guard \u201cthrough\u201d the governor by only directly notifying the adjutant general of the California national guard, to whom Newsom had delegated authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRegardless of whether Defendants gave Governor Newsom an opportunity to consult with them or consent to the federalization of California\u2019s National Guard, they did not issue their orders through him,\u201d Breyer wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The temporary restraining order did not touch on Trump and his defense secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a> moving to deploy the marines, in large part because the justice department told the judge they were only being used to protect federal buildings and personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using the military for protective purposes, Breyer suggested at the hearing, would not be a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, a 19th-century law prohibiting the use of troops to engage in law enforcement activities on domestic soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump has been suggesting the idea of deploying troops against Americans since his first term, when some Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020 turned violent. He opted against doing so at the time, but has since expressed regret to advisers<\/a> that he did not punish them more aggressively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notably, during a campaign rally in 2023, Trump vowed to respond more forcefully if elected to a second term. \u201cYou\u2019re supposed to not be involved in that, you just have to be asked by the governor or the mayor to come in,\u201d he said of the president\u2019s usual role in deciding whether to send in the military. \u201cThe next time, I\u2019m not waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n