Trump Must Return Command of California National Guard to Newsom, Court Rules

The ruling is a win for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has vigorously opposed President Trump’s moves to control California’s National Guard since the summer.

The Trump administration must return hundreds of California National Guard troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s control, a federal appellate court ruled on Wednesday. The troops were under the president’s command since he sent them to Los Angeles following protests over immigration raids this summer.

The order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a win for Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, who has vigorously opposed President Trump’s moves to control California’s National Guard since he mobilized some 4,000 troops in June. While most of them were later withdrawn, some 300 troops have remained under federal control.

“I’m glad President Trump has finally admitted defeat: We’ve said all along the federalization of the National Guard in California is illegal,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement on Wednesday. “We welcome our California National Guard service members back to state service.”

The decision follows last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court that Mr. Trump had improperly federalized the Illinois National Guard to respond to unrest over immigration crackdowns in the Chicago area.

That ruling cast doubt on the legality of the president’s deployment of National Guard troops in other cities as well, prompting the Ninth Circuit to ask the Trump administration why the California troops should remain under Mr. Trump’s command. The federal government responded Tuesday by withdrawing its request to maintain control of California’s state-based forces while it appealed a lower-court ruling.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he was, for now, abandoning his efforts to deploy the Guard in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Ore. But he suggested that the administration may deploy them again the future.

“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again — Only a question of time,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

In the California National Guard case, the Trump administration has contended that the troops were needed in Los Angeles to protect federal property and immigration officers because local law enforcement was unable to control civil unrest. The Justice Department also argued that the president could continue to command state-based military forces even months after intense demonstrations in Los Angeles had subsided.

“The Founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances,” Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Federal District Court in San Francisco wrote in his decision on Dec. 10. “Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one.”

He directed the government to return control of federalized California National Guard troops to Mr. Newsom. The order was paused while the Trump administration appealed. On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit lifted the pause and upheld that order.

The administration’s argument to retain control was severely undercut by the Supreme Court’s decision that refused to allow the president broad powers to send military forces into American cities.

To call in the National Guard, the court ruled, the president must first show that he is unable with the help of the regular military to execute federal laws. But the circumstances that permit use of the military for domestic policing “are exceptional,” the court wrote, so only very rare situations would allow sending in the National Guard.

Mr. Trump’s efforts to deploy the troops in cities across the country have been met with numerous legal challenges claiming an overreach of authority. The National Guard is typically deployed at the request of governors to respond to emergencies like natural disasters.

Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles said Wednesday that “there was never a legal justification” for Mr. Trump to deploy troops in Los Angeles and other cities.

“The Constitution still applies to presidents who wish it didn’t,” Ms. Bass said on social media. “Angelenos stood together. We saw through it. The courts saw through it.”

Jesus Jiménez contributed reporting from Los Angeles and Tyler Pager from West Palm Beach, Fla.

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