Washington — A federal appeals court on Thursday extended its block of a judge’s order that directed President Trump to return control of California’s National Guard to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The unanimous order from a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is a victory for the president and allows for the continued deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, where they have been protecting federal property and U.S. immigration agents during enforcement operations.
Mr. Trump invoked a law known as Title 10 to call the Guard into federal service earlier this month in response to demonstrations against immigration raids conducted across Los Angeles. Since then, a total of roughly 4,100 National Guard troops and 700 active-duty U.S. Marines have deployed to Los Angeles.
Newsom, a Democrat, objects to the use of troops in California’s largest city and sued the president over his decision to federalize the California Guard. A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, concluded last week that Mr. Trump’s actions were illegal and exceeded the scope of his authority.
The judge blocked the administration from deploying members of the California National Guard in Los Angeles and directed the president to return control of the troops to Newsom. His decision applied only to Mr. Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, and not the Marines.
The Trump administration swiftly appealed the decision and won a temporary stay of Breyer’s order from the 9th Circuit. It held a hearing Tuesday to consider a Justice Department request to halt the judge’s decision while the case proceeds.
The 9th Circuit judges sided with Mr. Trump on Thursday. They wrote “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,” or when the president is unable to “execute the laws” of the U.S.
The panel of judges — made up of two Trump appointees and one Biden appointee — rejected the Trump administration’s argument that the courts don’t have the power to review whether the president is allowed to call up the Guard. But they said judges need to be “highly deferential” to the president if he decides that troops need to be deployed, citing prior rulings.
The court said administration officials “have presented facts to allow us to conclude that the President had a colorable basis for invoking” Title 10, noting instances of protesters in Los Angeles interfering with immigration agents.
The 9th Circuit also said the Trump administration did not need to seek Newsom’s permission to call up the Guard. The state has pointed to a provision of Title 10 that said orders to federalize the Guard should go “through the governors” — but the court said that “does not give governors any veto power.”
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