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2w ago

Bench Trial Opens Over Trump’s Military Deployment in Los Angeles

The court’s ruling will determine whether the president exceeded constitutional limits by federalizing military forces for policing in California.

Members of the California National Guard stand guard at the Paramount Business Center parking lot a day after clashes between protesters and law enforcement following multiple detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the Los Angeles County city of Paramount, California, U.S., June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Jill Connelly/File Photo
President Lyndon B. Johnson sits at his desk in Washington, DC, before announcing he would federalize the Alabama National Guard to protect civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, on March 18, 1965.
National Guard units patrol outside the main New York Post Office on March 25, 1970, after being mobilized by President Richard Nixon.

Overview

  • Judge Charles Breyer begins a three-day bench trial and preliminary injunction hearing in Newsom v. Trump to assess whether the federalization of about 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act.
  • The trial will not resolve Trump’s authority to federalize the Guard, which remains under review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • Remote public access is restricted to audio-only Zoom feeds after Judge Breyer barred cameras to address security concerns for military and law enforcement witnesses.
  • California is seeking an order to return the remaining federalized troops to state control and to prohibit future use of military forces in civilian law enforcement in the state.
  • Reuters reports the administration is preparing to deploy hundreds of National Guard members to Washington, D.C., and President Trump has threatened to assume control of the city’s Metropolitan Police under the Home Rule Charter.