Federal Appeals Court Restores Trump’s Control of National Guard at Los Angeles, Staying Judge’s Decision Calling Move Illegal
A court hearing in the dispute over control of the troops is set for Tuesday.
A federal appeals court has restored President Trump’s control over California National Guard soldiers at Los Angeles, reversing a ruling by a lower court judge who had called the move illegal and ordered him to return control to Governor Newsom. A court hearing on the dispute is set for Tuesday.
A federal district court judge, Charles Breyer, had said Thursday evening that the president overstepped his statutory authority when he ordered the deployment of around 4,000 National Guard members due to the violent immigration protests at Los Angeles.
The administration immediately filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit court, which late on Thursday sided with Mr. Trump, for now.
Mr. Newsom has accused Mr. Trump of drawing a “military dragnet” through the city and sued to block the Guard’s deployment. The state also filed an emergency motion to block the Guard from assisting with federal immigration roundups. Some servicemembers have been protecting ICE agents during arrests.
Mr. Newsom posted a portion of the district court order on X after it was released and stated, “The court just confirmed what we all know — the military belongs on the battlefield, not on our city streets.”
“This win is not just for California, but the nation,” Mr. Newsom continued. “It’s a check on a man whose authoritarian tendencies are increasing by the day.”
Mr. Trump posted his own message to Mr. Newsom on his Truth Social account a short time before the ruling was announced. “Incompetent Gavin Newscum should have been thanking me for the job we did in Los Angeles, rather than making sad excuses for the poor job he has done,” Mr. Trump stated. “If it weren’t for me getting the National Guard into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now.”
The order from Judge Breyer, the brother of the former Supreme Court justice, Stephen Breyer, came hours after Senator Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, when he tried to question her about the deployment of the National Guard troops.
Mr. Padilla’s treatment drew strong rebuke from Congressional Democrats and raised concerns among some Republicans as well, though others contended that the senator had sought to disrupt the press conference.
