President Donald Trump has secured a significant victory in his ongoing legal battle with California Governor Gavin Newsom over the deployment of the National Guard, as a federal appeals court panel late Thursday unanimously approved the President’s authority to maintain control.
In a ruling that shocked many anticipating an immediate shift, a three-justice panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals moved to indefinitely block a June 12 U.S. District Court decision that would have instantly returned control of the California National Guard to Governor Newsom.
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This means that President Trump will continue to oversee the National Guard’s operations in downtown Los Angeles, which were deployed on June 7 under Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code to address ongoing protests and riots centered around U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enforcement of federal immigration laws. The legal saga, which could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court, will now proceed with Newsom’s lawsuit challenging the legality of Trump’s federalization of the Guard.
While siding with the President on control, the panel delivered a notable rebuff to the Trump administration’s argument that the federalization of the National Guard is beyond judicial review.
“We disagree with defendants’ primary argument that the president’s decision to federalize members of the California National Guard under 10 U.S.C. § 12406 is completely insulated from judicial review,” the justices wrote in their opinion.
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However, the court emphasized a “highly deferential” standard of review for such presidential decisions.
“Affording the president that deference, we conclude that it is likely that the president lawfully exercised his statutory authority under § 12406(3), which authorizes federalization of the National Guard when ‘the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States,'” the justices stated, lending weight to Trump’s justification for the deployment.
“The court rightly rejected Trump’s claim that he can do whatever he wants with the National Guard and not have to explain himself to a court,” Newsom stated, adding, “The president is not a king and is not above the law. We will press forward with our challenge to President Trump’s authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens.”
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Currently, National Guard members remain stationed in downtown Los Angeles, primarily tasked with guarding federal buildings and personnel.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines are being utilized to secure a federal building and its workers near the University of California at Los Angeles, approximately 14 miles from the main protest areas.
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