A judge temporarily halted the Trump administration’s National Guard deployment in Los Angeles, writing Thursday that the federal government did not have the authority to nationalize California’s National Guard.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued the temporary restraining order after an hourlong hearing in a San Francisco federal court.
Breyer stayed the injunction, allowing the administration to appeal it to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals until noon Friday.
California’s attorney general challenged the deployment, saying the administration failed to properly follow the statute that allows federalizing the state’s National Guard.
Breyer’s ruling is broader than the state had sought. State Attorney General Rob Bonta had wanted to ensure that the guard members weren’t participating in civilian law and immigration enforcement, but Breyer said the federal government exceeded its authority because it did not notify Newsom, as the statute cited by the administration requires, and wrote that Trump’s actions were illegal, “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 National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith,” Breyer continued.
In court, a lawyer for the federal government initially said the administration had complied with the three-prong test required by the statute. He later said the matter was not subject to judicial review.
The Trump administration has appealed.
Breyer’s order does not apply to the deployment of 700 Marines to Los Angeles. In the hearing Thursday afternoon, he expressed skepticism that he was able to control their movements, because the governor of California does not have authority over the Marine Corps. “I don’t understand how I’m supposed to do anything with the Marines, to tell you the truth,” he said.
