U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer ordered the Trump administration to end its deployment of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles, ruling the continued federal control is illegal now that street protests have subsided.
The big picture: The ruling applies to about 100 National Guard soldiers who remain in the city, six months after the protests against immigration raids erupted.
- Breyer’s order directs the federal government to return control of the troops to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, but the order is stayed until Monday to allow for a possible appeal.
Driving the news: President Trump originally federalized around 4,000 California National Guard members in June, over objections from state and local officials, citing the need to protect federal property during intense demonstrations.
- The Trump administration gradually reduced the deployment, with numbers shrinking to 300 by last month and then to 100, who were expected to remain federalized until February.
- Newsom had previously sued over the initial deployment, but a June ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Trump, allowing him to deploy the Guard amid the unrest.
Go deeper: California renewed its legal challenge in November, arguing that the acute civil unrest in Los Angeles had faded and that a federal military presence was no longer justified.
- The state’s attorney argued that the president’s authority to federalize the Guard requires an ongoing emergency, which had since ended.
- Trump administration lawyers countered that persistent threats to federal personnel in Los Angeles justified keeping troops there, noting a recent attempted firebombing of a federal building.
- The administration also argued that once National Guard troops are federalized, the law gives the president discretion on how long they remain deployed.
- Judge Breyer agreed with California’s interpretation, stating “No crisis lasts forever,” and sided with returning control to the state as the emergency had passed.
