President Donald Trump can continue to use
National Guard troops to respond to protests in Los Angeles as a legal challenge over his use of the military proceeds, a federal appeals court ruled.
In a win for the
White House, a three-judge panel in San Francisco on Thursday said the
Trump administration can keep using California National Guard troops to respond to the protests. In effect, it doesn’t change the situation on the ground in Los Angeles, where the federal government has been deploying the military for more than a week.
Thursday’s decision isn’t the final ruling on the matter and is likely to be immediately challenged. California could appeal the ruling to the
US Supreme Court, or a bigger panel in the same appeals court. The lower court that had ordered the federal government to return control of the troops to the state will also hold a hearing on Friday.
California and the Trump administration have been
sparring over the federal government’s response to the protests, including the deployment of thousands of the state’s National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines.
California and its
Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, have blasted Trump’s deployment as a “power grab” and an unnecessary intrusion on the work of local officials to police the protests. Lawyers for the state also have said it’s “terrifying” that
Justice Department lawyers said the presidents actions can’t be second-guessed by the courts, and argue that the deployment sets a dangerous precedent.
A spokesperson for Governor Newsom and the White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has maintained that the president has the power to unilaterally federalize National Guard troops when he determines there is a “rebellion” or “invasion” that necessitates military intervention. And presidents are permitted to call up the state troops when “regular forces” are unable to enforce federal law.
The appeals court judges said Trump likely acted lawfully when he federalized the National Guard, but they objected to arguments raised by Justice Department lawyers that his decision cannot be reviewed by the courts.
“We conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority,” the appeals court said in a unanimous ruling late Thursday.
The judges also stressed that the decision is limited to whether Trump was allowed to call for the deployment, but does not address “the nature of the activities in which the federalized National Guard may engage.”
The appeals court panel, which heard arguments Tuesday by lawyers from both the Justice Department and California, is comprised of two judges appointed by Trump and one by former President Joe Biden. The court stepped in last week at the administration’s request to pauses US District Judge Charles Breyer’s order declaring that Trump’s deployment without California’s consent was “illegal.”
Trump issued a proclamation authorizing their deployment on June 7 and said protests in the city against his deportation initiative represent a form of “rebellion” against the authority of the federal government. In court filings, lawyers for the administration cited reports of violence and threats against federal property and officers conducting immigration enforcement.
Breyer said in his June 12 ruling he was troubled by the idea that a protest against the federal government on its own could “justify a finding of rebellion.”
The case is Newsom v. Trump, 25-3727,
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco).
(Updates with comment requests from both sides in paragraph six.)
