Judge rules Trump’s troop deployment illegal; appeals court puts ruling on hold

A federal judge ruled Thursday against President Trump’s decision to federalize National Guard troops and use them to quell protests in Los Angeles, but an appeals court quickly put that decision on hold.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued the initial ruling, saying Mr. Trump failed to get California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval for the decision, violating both the law and the Constitution.

Trump officials quickly filed an appeal, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in to put the ruling on hold for several days, saying it wanted to hear an initial round of legal arguments before taking any firm action. The move probably will give Mr. Trump a free hand until at least Tuesday, when the hearing is scheduled.

“The Appeals Court ruled last night that I can use the National Guard to keep our cities, in this case Los Angeles, safe. If I didn’t send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now. We saved L.A. Thank you for the Decision!!!” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social.

The appeals court ruling was more limited than Mr. Trump suggests, however. It is what is known as an “administrative stay” and does not reach any of the substantive arguments.

Judge Breyer, in his initial ruling, 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.