Federal judge blocks Trump's National Guard deployment in LA

A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles.

In a ruling on Wednesday, US District Judge Charles Breyer determined that the deployed members of the California National Guard must return to the control of Governor Gavin Newsom. About 100 troops remain in Los Angeles, and Breyer found that Trump had illegally kept them deployed months after sending them in during the summer to address riots by activists opposed to immigration enforcement.

“The Founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances,” Breyer, a Clinton appointee, wrote. “Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one.” 

The deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles has been subject to legal debate for months.  After Trump initially deployed the troops, a judge blocked that deployment. An appeals court then halted the ruling, but most troops have since been sent away. Breyer’s decision will block an extension that would have kept 300 troops under federal control until February. Two hundred were sent to Oregon, while the rest stayed in Los Angeles.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who filed the lawsuit against the deployment, applauded the ruling in a statement.

“For more than five months, the Trump Administration has held California National Guard troops hostage as part of its political games,” Bonta claimed. “But the President is not King. And he cannot federalize the National Guard whenever, wherever, and for however long he wants, without justification. This is a good day for our democracy and the strength of the rule of law.”

The ruling is paused until Monday to give the Department of Justice time to appeal. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson has already indicated that the Trump administration will appeal.

“President Trump exercised his lawful authority to deploy National Guard troops to support federal officers and assets following violent riots that local leaders like Newscum refused to stop,” Jackson said in a statement. “We look forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”