A federal court has once again stepped into the standoff between Washington and Sacramento, with U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ordering that California must regain authority over its National Guard units currently stationed in Los Angeles. His ruling on Wednesday temporarily blocks the Trump administration from continuing to deploy those troops without the state’s consent, though he paused the injunction until Monday.
State officials had gone to court arguing that the circumstances used to justify the troop activation were no longer relevant. When President Donald Trump initially assumed command of the California National Guard in June, more than 4,000 service members were mobilized. By late October, that presence had dwindled dramatically, leaving only “a 100 or so troops” positioned in the Los Angeles area, California noted.
The administration defended the continued deployment, insisting that Guard forces were still needed to bolster security around federal staff and facilities. “U.S. Justice Department lawyers said the administration still needed Guard members in the Los Angeles area to help protect federal personnel and property.” Requests for comment submitted to the White House on Wednesday were not answered.
The political confrontation intensified when the Republican administration extended the mission through February and pushed to send California Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, as part of a broader attempt to move federal forces into cities governed by Democrats—despite repeated objections from local officials.
California maintained throughout the legal battle that the Guard was being conscripted into service as a presidential security arm, contrary to long-standing restrictions on domestic military involvement. “California argued that the president was using Guard members as his personal police force in violation of a law limiting the use of the military in domestic affairs.”
The origins of the dispute trace back to large demonstrations against Trump’s expanded immigration enforcement. In response, Trump assumed command of the Guard without a gubernatorial request—the first such move in decades—and placed troops around a downtown Los Angeles federal detention center where protesters had gathered. Units were also assigned to accompany immigration agents during arrests in surrounding neighborhoods.
California quickly filed suit, prompting Judge Breyer to initially issue a temporary restraining order requiring control of the Guard to revert to the state. That ruling was later frozen by an appellate court panel while the case proceeded.
For its part, the administration argued that the judiciary had no authority to interfere with the president’s determination that unrest surrounding the protests amounted to conditions in which “violence during the protests made it impossible for him to execute U.S. laws with regular forces and reflected a rebellion, or danger of rebellion.”
After a full trial, Breyer concluded in September that the federal deployment violated the governing statutes. His decision aligned with rulings from other courts that had similarly blocked attempts to send National Guard units to Portland and Chicago as part of the administration’s urban enforcement strategy.
{Matzav.com}
