CA files to end Guard deployment after judge rules Trump’s LA mission was illegal
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Federal judge issues order in case involving use of National Guard in Los Angeles.
- The ruling followed a three-day trial in August.
- The judge’s previous order involving the troop deployment was appealed.
A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated federal law by deploying California National Guard troops to Los Angeles during a summer standoff with Gov. Gavin Newsom over immigration raids.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer concluded that the Trump administration’s actions, which began in June, violated the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 statute that generally bars use of the military to enforce domestic laws.
“The evidence at trial established that Defendants systematically used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armor) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles,” Breyer wrote in a 52-page decision, which is expected to be appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump and Hegseth sent roughly 4,000 California National Guard members to the Los Angeles area following protests, some of which were violent, in response to immigration enforcement operations.
During a three-day bench trial last month, a lawyer representing the state of California, argued that the troops’ roles exceeded protective support and ventured into active law enforcement, and said Breyer needed to step in to make sure proper boundaries were in place.
A U.S. Department of Justice attorney contended the soldiers were present to defend federal workers and were not in violation of the act.
Breyer, in his ruling, cited public statements by Trump and Hegseth indicating plans to federalize Guard troops in other cities, “thus creating a national police force with the President as its chief.” He issued an injunction barring further violations, writing that “there is an ongoing risk that defendants will act unlawfully.”
About 300 National Guard soldiers have remained in the Los Angeles area since Aug. 1, and are set to remain in the area into November. The order does not require the Trump administration to withdraw those troops or to not use them at all. The ruling goes into effect at noon on Sept. 12.
Hours after Breyer’s ruling, Attorney General Rob Bonta filed for an injunction to stop the Pentagon from extending the Guard’s deployment in California through Nov. 5, the day after voters will decide whether to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries.
Newsom has been the Democrats’ most vocal remapping proponent, which he has framed as the party’s best chance for stopping Trump’s “authoritarian” agenda.
“The timing of Trump’s extension of the National Guard soldiers isn’t coincidental — he’s holding onto soldiers through Election Day,” Newsom said in a statement announcing the filing. “There was never a need and there is not a need now for soldiers to be deployed against their communities.”
“The federal government hasn’t even tried to justify keeping the military in Los Angeles because they can’t. The reality is this — they want to continue their intimidation tactics to scare Californians into submission.”
Breyer’s decision prompted a new round of political fighting between California Democratic leaders and the Trump administration.
“Once again, a rogue judge is trying to usurp the authority of the Commander-in-Chief to protect American cities from violence and destruction,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement.
“President Trump saved Los Angeles, which was overrun by deranged leftist lunatics sowing mass chaos until he stepped in. While far-left courts try to stop President Trump from carrying out his mandate to Make America Safe Again, the President is committed to protecting law-abiding citizens, and this will not be the final say on the issue.”
Newsom’s office, on X, posted a screenshot of the ruling and wrote, ”The people of California won much-needed accountability against Trump’s ILLEGAL militarization of an American city!” The governor has called on Trump to allow the remaining solders to leave.
Bonta, during a news conference, said the order “validates that the power of the president is not boundless. Trump is not king.”
He said he was confident the state would prevail in future legal battles over the deployment.
“We believe we are on solid ground,” Bonta said. “Whatever the federal government decides to do, we believe that we will be able to defend this important order.”
Breyer, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, ruled in June that Trump had exceeded his authority by not ordering the California National Guard deployment through Newsom. The judge called on Trump to return control of the troops to the governor.
An appeals court, also in June, overturned Breyer’s ruling, saying that Newsom did not have power to veto Trump’s order and that the president would likely win on those grounds “because the alleged procedural violation has no effect on President Trump’s authority.”
When the judge issued that first decision it was less than a week after troops were called to the Los Angeles area and he did not rule on if the federal government was violating the Posse Comitatus Act. That set the stage for the most recent trial.
His latest ruling was another blistering rebuke of the Trump administration. But it is too early to tell what, if any, effect it could have in how troops are used domestically.
Breyer called his ruling Tuesday “narrowly tailored” because it applied only to the use of the National Guard in California, not nationally.
Trump last month mobilized the National Guard in Washington, D.C., “to address the epidemic of crime” in the nation’s capital.
Although only a few hundred troops remain in the Los Angeles area, Breyer said he felt the need to step in because troops had “already been improperly trained as to what activities they can and cannot engage in.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 6:58 AM with the headline "CA files to end Guard deployment after judge rules Trump’s LA mission was illegal."
