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Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to continue legal challenges against President Donald Trump's federalization of the California National Guard after a federal appeals court ruled on June 19 that the administration can maintain control of the troops for now.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously extended its block of a lower court order that would have returned control of approximately 4,000 California National Guard members to Newsom. The three-judge panel found Trump likely acted within his statutory authority when he federalized the Guard on June 7 in response to protests over immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles.
"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 said in a statement after the ruling. "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."
The appeals court decision overturned U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer's June 12 ruling that declared Trump's actions illegal and ordered the immediate return of Guard control to California. Breyer had determined that Trump's "actions were illegal — both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution."
Trump invoked Title 10 to call the Guard into federal service in response to demonstrations against immigration raids conducted across L.A. The deployment marked the first time in 60 years that a president activated a state's National Guard over the governor's objections, according to multiple court filings.
The appeals court noted incidents of violence listed by administration attorneys, including protesters targeting local and federal law enforcement with Molotov cocktails and "mortar-style fireworks." The ruling said one Customs and Border Patrol agent suffered a "shattered wrist."
The Ninth Circuit panel wrote that "it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority" to federalize the National Guard under Title 10, which allows the president to call the Guard into federal service whenever "there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion."
However, the court rejected the Trump administration's broader claim that presidential decisions to activate the Guard are completely beyond judicial review. While the appeals court rejected administration lawyers' assertions that courts cannot review a president's decision to activate the Guard, it said that courts should be "highly deferential" to the president on the issue.
Attorney General Rob Bonta, who filed the lawsuit alongside Newsom, argued that Trump's order "exceeds the federal government's authority under the law and violates the Tenth Amendment." The state contended there was no invasion or rebellion justifying the deployment and that local authorities were managing the situation without federal military assistance.
Trump federalized and deployed some 4,000 Guard and 700 U.S. Marines over Newsom's objections earlier this month after increasingly unruly protests against ICE tactics. The Marines' deployment was not addressed in the ruling.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: "BIG WIN in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the President's core power to call in the National Guard!" He added that the ruling would allow federal protection for cities where state and local police are "unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done."
The legal battle continues with multiple proceedings moving forward. Breyer will hold another hearing on Friday to determine whether to grant a preliminary injunction to return the troops to Newsom, pending the broader case challenging Trump's authority as it proceeds through the courts.
Newsom's office said that both Newsom and Bonta remain committed to holding the president accountable for using the military as domestic law enforcement — actions they argued were in violation of federal law.
