An appeals court has temporarily blocked a federal judge’s order that directed United States President Donald Trump to return control of National Guard troops to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Originally, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled Trump’s deployment of 4,000 troops on protesters in LA illegal, but allowed time for the Trump administration to appeal his decision.
“His actions were illegal — both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the judge wrote.
“He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith.”
In response, the Trump administration took action to block the decision from the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals which temporarily granted the request.
“The district court has no authority to usurp the President’s authority as Commander in Chief,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.
“The President exercised his lawful authority to mobilise the National Guard to protect federal buildings and personnel in Gavin Newsom’s lawless Los Angeles.
“The Trump Administration will immediately appeal this abuse of power and looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
The court said it would hear the matter on Tuesday. This occurred only hours after Judge Breyer’s order took effect at noon Friday local time.
Prior to the decision, Newsom and California’s state attorney had sued Trump to reverse the National Guard takeover without the governor's consent.
Newsom praised Breyer’s original ruling on X and said it was not only a win for California but for the nation.
“The court just confirmed what we all know: The military belongs on the battlefield, not on our city streets,” he said.
