A federal appeals court panel late Thursday temporarily lifted a judge’s order ruling President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard illegal, enabling the troops to remain assisting with immigration raids in Los Angeles, for now.
The ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals landed mere hours after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ordered the president to return control of the troops to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) by Friday afternoon.
The three-judge appeals panel is comprised of two Trump-nominated judges, Mark Bennett and Eric Miller, and Judge Jennifer Sung, an appointee of former President Biden.
Their one-page order contained little explanation but suggests it is not a decision on the merits of the case in any way.
Breyer, an appointee of former President Clinton who serves in San Francisco, said Trump failed to issue his order “through” Newsom as required by law and the situation on the ground didn’t present the prerequisites required for Trump to federalize the National Guard.
“The protests in Los Angeles fall far short of ‘rebellion,’” Breyer wrote.
His order was set to go into effect Friday afternoon.
The Trump administration in urging the 9th Circuit to immediately intervene called the judge’s order “unprecedented” and an “extraordinary intrusion” into Trump’s authority.
“That sort of second-guessing of the Commander in Chief’s military judgments is a gross violation of the separation of powers,” the Justice Department wrote in its motion. “Nearly 200 years ago, the Supreme Court made clear that these judgment calls are for the President to make—not a Governor, and certainly not a federal court.”
The 9th Circuit issued its ruling before Newsom responded. His opposition was filed six minutes after the order.
“An administrative stay is unnecessary and unwarranted in light of the district court’s extensive reasoning— in particular, its findings of irreparable harm to the State in the absence of injunctive relief. There are also serious questions regarding the appellate jurisdiction of this Court,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s (D) office wrote.
Updated at 11:45 p.m. EDT.
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