A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a ruling that would have forced President Donald Trump to return control of California National Guard troops to the state, extending a fast-moving legal fight over the use of military forces in Los Angeles. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its pause only hours after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said Trump's deployment of the Guard was illegal and ordered the White House to give control back to California.
Breyer's ruling said the deployment violated the Tenth Amendment, which sets out the balance of power between federal and state governments, and also exceeded Trump's statutory authority. According to the AP report, the judge said the situation in Los Angeles did not amount to a rebellion and therefore did not justify the president's use of Title 10 authority. The judge's order applied only to the National Guard troops, not to the Marines who were also sent to the city.
The appeals court's intervention came as the deployment continued to shape events on the ground. AP reported that about 2,000 National Guard troops had already been on the streets of Los Angeles since last week, and that a group of 200 Marines was scheduled to begin protecting federal property and personnel in downtown Los Angeles. Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, who commands Task Force 51, said about 500 Guard troops had been trained to accompany immigration agents on operations, although the Marines had not been trained for that role. The source also noted that protests over immigration raids had spread beyond Los Angeles to other cities.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sued to block the Guard deployment, had praised Breyer's ruling before the appeals court stepped in. Newsom argued that using troops to assist immigration enforcement would escalate tensions and promote civil unrest. The White House, by contrast, said Breyer's order was unprecedented and that the district court had no authority to limit the president as commander in chief. Trump himself defended the deployment on social media, saying Los Angeles would otherwise be burning to the ground. The clash left the issue in a legally unsettled state, with the appeals court scheduling a hearing for Tuesday.
The broader dispute is about how far a president can go in federalizing the Guard without a governor's consent. AP reported that governors normally control the National Guard, but that Title 10 allows federal activation in limited circumstances, such as invasion, rebellion or when the president says he cannot execute federal law. Breyer said the protests in Los Angeles fell short of rebellion and that protected protest activity cannot be erased by the behavior of a few violent actors. The next hearing is now set to determine whether the temporary block turns into a longer stay while the underlying constitutional fight continues.
