President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to quell protests in Los Angeles is likely illegal, a federal judge ruled Thursday, saying he failed to get the cooperation of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Judge Charles Breyer delayed enforcing his ruling until Friday to give the government a chance to appeal - which it immediately did.
The judge said Mr. Trump failed two tests in calling out the Guard.
He didn’t follow the strictures of the law, which required him to go “through“ the governor. And his actions violated the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.
“His actions were illegal,” said the judge, a Clinton appointee to the court in San Francisco. “He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the governor of the state of California forthwith.”
The ruling does not affect hundreds of active-duty Marines whom Mr. Trump also deployed.
The president had argued that the law does not require a governor’s consent, saying that would infringe on his powers as commander-in-chief.
Mr. Newsom had argued that if Mr. Trump could federalize and deploy the troops in this situation, he could do it anywhere and for other reasons. He cast that as a step towards authoritarianism.
Judge Breyer, brother of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, also saw it in those terms.
He said this is the first time a president has deployed guard troops without a governor’s agreement.
“Regardless of the outcome of this case or any other, that alone threatened a serious injury to the constitutional balance of power between the federal and state governments and set a dangerous president for future domestic military activity,” he said.
Mr. Newsom hailed the decision as “a win for all Americans.”
“The President’s action to turn the military against its own citizens threatened our democracy and moved us dangerously close to authoritarianism,” he said.
Mr. Trump, posting to social media after the judge’s hearing but before his ruling Thursday, said Mr. Newsom “should have been thanking me for the job we did in Los Angeles, rather than making sad excuses for the poor job he has done.”
“If it weren’t for me getting the National Guard into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now,” he said.
Mr. Trump deployed the troops beginning Saturday, a day after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers say they were nearly overrun and a detention facility breached by a mob angry over the president’s deportation efforts.
ICE says the local police took more than an hour and a half to respond to an emergency call, and the agency’s top commander in Los Angeles said local police aren’t enough.
Mr. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass disagreed, saying they have things under control.
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested during the protests, which have now stretched for nearly a week.
Mr. Trump has deployed thousands of National Guard troops he federalized under Title 10 of the U.S. code.
Those forces and the Marines he deployed are guarding federal buildings and going out into the community to provide force protection to ICE as it looks for its immigration targets.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.