Dec 10 (Reuters) – A federal judge in California on Wednesday ordered an end to Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles and directed that they be returned to the control of the state’s Democratic governor, finding that the Republican president had exceeded his authority.
The ruling by San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer represented the latest legal setback for Trump and his efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-controlled cities, an extraordinary use of the military for domestic purposes.
The judge found Trump overstepped his authority by taking control of California National Guard units and sending them to Los Angeles and elsewhere in response to protests against federal immigration authorities. Breyer said there was no evidence to support the administration’s claim that the protests were a rebellion against the government that legally justified sending in troops.
Breyer also rejected the administration’s claim that courts have no power to review a president’s decision to take control of state National Guard units during an emergency, saying this was an overly expansive view of presidential authority.
“The founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances. Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one,” Breyer said, referring to the Trump administration.
The judge’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, a prominent critic of Trump, that asked the court to block an August order by Trump’s administration taking federal control of 300 California National Guard troops through February 2, 2026.
National Guard units are controlled by states but can be called into federal service under certain circumstances.
Representatives for the White House, Newsom’s office and Bonta’s office did not immediately return requests for comment.
Trump has said his troop deployments in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Memphis and Portland, Oregon are necessary to fight crime and protect federal property and personnel from protesters.
Local leaders in those cities have said the deployments are unnecessary. They have accused Trump of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence at mostly peaceful protests to justify sending in troops.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul, Chizu Nomiyama and Will Dunham)