That request centers on a 19th-century #law, the #PosseComitatusAct, that generally makes it illegal to use the #military for #domestic law enforcement. The #Trump admin has argued that the #troops are not themselves performing law enforcement tasks, but rather are protecting civilian agents who are trying to arrest undocumented #immigrants.
[but we know better]
Judge Breyer’s temporary restraining order [#TRO] concerned only the #NationalGuard & whether it was lawful for #Trump to mobilize them under #federal control. At the hearing on Friday, he is also set to address a #state request to limit #troops under federal control to guarding federal buildings, & to bar them from accompanying #ICE agents on the #workplace #raids that sparked the #protests.
Either way, litigation in the case is set to return on Friday to the San Francisco courtroom of the Federal District Court judge, Charles Breyer, for a hearing. He is weighing whether to issue a more durable preliminary injunction restricting what #Trump can do with some 4,000 #NationalGuard #troops or 700 active-duty #Marines his admin has also deployed into the #city.
The ruling means control of the #California #NationalGuard will stay in #federal hands as the lawsuit continues to unfold.
The #state could choose to ask the full appeals court to rehear the matter, or it could directly ask #SCOTUS to intervene. But the state might also just move on from the current part of the dispute, since the ruling on Thurs pertains to a short-lived temporary restraining order that will soon be obsolete anyway.
The court case could have wider implications on the president’s #power to deploy #soldiers within the #US after #Trump directed #immigration officials to prioritize #deportations from other #Democratic-run #cities.
Trump, a Republican, argued that the #troops were necessary to restore order. Newsom, a #Democrat, said the move inflamed tensions, usurped local authority & wasted resources.
The court used 14 of its 38 page ruling to reject the #DOJ's argument that #Trump's decision to federalize the #California #NationalGuard can't be reviewed by the courts.
But, the court concluded that the requirement in #Title10 §12406 that "orders ... shall be issued through the governors of the States" does not mean that a governor must consent or even be consulted before their #state's National Guard is federalized.
A 3-judge panel of the San Francisco-based #9thCircuit Court of Appeals extended a pause it placed on US District Judge Charles Breyer's June 12 ruling that #Trump had called the #NationalGuard into #federal service unlawfully.
US court lets #Trump retain control of #California #NationalGuard for now
A US appeals court let Trump late Thurs retain control over CA's National Guard while the state's #Democratic #governor proceeds with a lawsuit challenging the legality of the #Republican president's use of the #troops to *quell* #protests & unrest in #LosAngeles.
#law #Title10 #PosseComitatusAct #ExecutiveOverreach #AbuseOfPower
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-court-lets-trump-retain-control-california-national-guard-now-2025-06-20/
Yet some institutional checks continue to function, even if unevenly. The federal #judiciary has been a source of significant pushback against the admin. Already, a federal district court judge in #California has ruled that #Trump’s deployment of the #NationalGuard in CA was illegal (though the ruling was almost immediately put on hold for further review).
#Trump has stacked the #DOJ & the #Pentagon with personal #loyalists, & has tended to bypass the Office of Legal Counsel [#OLC] — the institution traditionally responsible for vetting the legality of executive actions. Although the standard guidelines & procedures for past #domestic deployments remain on the books, there is substantial reason to doubt that the civilian leadership will follow them.
The #political conditions surrounding the current deployment are dramatically different from those during that prior wave. #Polarization has spread from society to the political elites, who now, more than ever, seek to use the #military for political gain. On the #Republican side, Donald #Trump appears eager to deploy the #Army against left-wing #protesters.
More mundanely, the explanation may come down to logistics. The #MarineCorps is a relatively small force & has rarely been stationed near sites of #domestic unrest. However, Camp Pendleton—home to the largest concentration of #Marines in the continental #UnitedStates—sits just a few hours from #LosAngeles & is far closer than the nearest viable #Army unit, 45 miles south of Seattle. There may have been practical reasons to deploy the Marines.
And the #Marines were held in reserve on several occasions: after #MLK won his battle against Bull Connor in the 1963 #Birmingham, #Alabama, campaign for #desegregation of downtown stores, during which firebombings of a #CivilRights headquarters & King’s brother’s hotel room had sparked riots, & during the 1963 #MarchOnWashington.
The #Marines—who have a reputation for lethality—were deployed only twice during this period: once during the 1967 #protest at the #Pentagon, where they appear to have played a minor role, & again amid the violent unrest in Washington, DC, following #MLK’s #assassination. President John F. Kennedy considered sending them to help #desegregate the University of #Mississippi in 1962 but ultimately declined.
Leadership & #lawyers at the #DOJ & the #Pentagon, & leadership in the #ArmedServices, worked closely w/ senior officers in the #Army to develop standing operating procedures & situation-specific #RulesOfEngagement aimed at minimizing the #UseOfForce.
That blurring contributed to a long-term shift in civilian #LawEnforcement — one that encouraged the adoption of #military - style equipment & tactics, & helped lay the groundwork for the sort of aggressive #police force that is common today.
What accounted for the #Army’s restraint? Although society was as divided as it is today, #political elites were not yet #polarized & still placed trust in apolitical #expertise.
The Army’s conduct during these deployments was far from flawless. In addition to credible allegations of #ExcessiveForce, the #Army carried out extensive #domestic #surveillance, often tracking #civilians & #protest groups without legal #authority or #oversight. And although its own use of force was generally restrained, its involvement helped blur the line between #military & #police roles.
By contrast, people remember the #KentState #massacre of 1970 because it was a bloody failure by the #NationalGuard, during which 4 #students were #killed. Indeed, during this period, many #police & National Guard units responded to unrest with heavy-handed tactics that resulted in many #civilian injuries & #fatalities.
Indeed, this absence of lethal force proved typical: The only fatality caused by active-duty #soldiers during this 12-yr period occurred during the 1967 #Detroit riots. The low number of deaths is at least partly why, except for the 101st Airborne’s deployment to #LittleRock, most Americans barely remember these earlier #domestic #military interventions. Even in moments of widespread turbulence, the active-duty military exercised restraint overall.
As pressure mounted, commanders deployed paratroopers from the 1st Battalion, 325th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, who engaged demonstrators outside the entrance & helped stabilize the scene. By day’s end, 21 civilians were reported injured—7 treated at the scene & 14 hospitalized—but, remarkably, no fatalities had occurred.
