US appeals court rules Trump can keep control of California National Guard
A United States appeals court has ruled the administration of President Donald Trump could keep control of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The decision on Thursday comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions in California's largest city, which has become ground zero of Trump's immigration crackdown across the US.
In a 38-page unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel said Trump was within his rights earlier this month when he ordered 4,000 members of the National Guard into service for 60 days to 'protect federal personnel performing federal functions and to protect federal property'.
'Affording appropriate deference to the President's determination, we conclude that he likely acted within his authority in federalising the National Guard,' the panel of the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeal said.
Trump, a Republican, had appointed two of the judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel while his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, had named the third, according to US media reports.
Last week, a lower court judge had ordered Trump to return control of the California National Guard to Newsom, saying the president's decision to deploy them during protests over federal immigration detentions in Los Angeles was 'illegal'. That decision by US District Judge Charles Breyer on June 12 prompted the appeal.
On Thursday night, Trump hailed the appeal court's decision in a post on his Truth Social social media platform, calling it a 'BIG WIN'.
'All over the United States, if our Cities, and our people, need protection, we are the ones to give it to them should State and Local Police be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done,' Trump wrote.
The state of California had argued that Trump's order was illegal because it did not follow the procedure of being issued through the governor.
It was the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard over the wishes of a state governor.
The judges said Trump's 'failure to issue the federalisation order directly 'through' the Governor of California does not limit his otherwise lawful authority to call up the National Guard'.
But they said the panel disagreed with the defendant's primary argument that the president's decision to federalise members of the California National Guard 'is completely insulated from judicial review'.
'Nothing in our decision addresses the nature of the activities in which the federalized National Guard may engage,' it wrote in its opinion.
Newsom could still challenge the use of the National Guard and Marines under other laws, including the bar on using troops in domestic law enforcement, it added.
The governor could raise those issues at a court hearing on Friday in front of Breyer, it also said.
In a social media post after the decision, Newsom promised to pursue his challenge.
'Donald Trump is not a king and not above the law,' he wrote.
'Tonight, the court rightly rejected Trump's claim that he can do whatever he wants with the National Guard and not have to explain himself to a court.
'We will not let this authoritarian use of military soldiers against citizens go unchecked.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
31 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
Netanyahu thanks Trump for ‘historic' US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites
Netanyahu thanks Trump for 'historic' US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites NewsFeed Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised US President Donald Trump's decision to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran as 'bold, righteous and historic.' The UN Secretary General has condemned the US strikes as a 'dangerous escalation'. Video Duration 00 minutes 55 seconds 00:55 Video Duration 00 minutes 25 seconds 00:25 Video Duration 01 minutes 22 seconds 01:22 Video Duration 00 minutes 40 seconds 00:40 Video Duration 01 minutes 42 seconds 01:42 Video Duration 00 minutes 42 seconds 00:42
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US joins Israel in attacks against Iran, strikes key nuclear sites
President Donald Trump has announced that United States forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a 'very successful attack', adding that the heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility is 'gone'. Trump's decision on Saturday to join Israel's military campaign against Iran represents a major escalation of the conflict. 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan,' Trump posted on Truth Social, adding that the military planes were now on their way home. 'NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!' he added. Later, in a televised Oval Office address that lasted just more than three minutes, Trump said that Iran's future held 'either peace or tragedy', and that there were many other targets that could be hit by the US military. 'The strikes were a spectacular military success,' Trump said. 'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.' The strikes came as Israel and Iran have been engaged in more than a week of aerial combat, with deaths and injuries in both countries. Israel launched the attacks on Iran, saying that it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. Diplomatic efforts by Western nations to stop the hostilities have been unsuccessful. 'Will not stop' Iran's nuclear agency on Sunday confirmed that attacks took place on its Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz atomic sites, but insisted that its work would not be stopped. 'The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran assures the great Iranian nation that despite the evil conspiracies of its enemies, with the efforts of thousands of its revolutionary and motivated scientists and experts, it will not allow the development of this national industry, which is the result of the blood of nuclear martyrs, to be stopped,' it said in its statement. CBS News reported that the US reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes were all it planned and that the US did not intend on regime change efforts. Trump told Fox News that six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on the Fordow nuclear site, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against the others, Esfahan and Fordow. US B-2 bombers were involved in the strikes, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'Awesome and righteous US might' Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett said that Trump was advised that the bombings would allow for the dismantling of Iran's nuclear programme. 'Donald Trump has been advised that, as commander-in-chief, this will not lead to escalation,' Halkett reported from Washington, DC. 'But he knows there is a chance that there could be an escalation as a result of his action.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump's decision to attack Iran. 'Congratulations, President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history,' Netanyahu said. Israeli military officials said earlier on Saturday that they had completed another series of strikes on dozens of military targets in southwestern Iran. Israel launched attacks on June 13, saying that Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons, which it neither confirms nor denies. At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since Israel began its attacks, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the Ministry of Health. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed by Iranian missile attacks, according to local authorities, in the worst direct conflict between the longtime enemies. More than 450 Iranian missiles have been fired towards Israel, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. Israeli officials said that 1,272 people have been injured since the beginning of the hostilities, with 14 in serious condition.
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Trump says US has bombed 3 nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow
US President Donald Trump says American forces have conducted 'very successful' strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan and that all US planes are now out of Iranian airspace. Israel's attacks on Iran continue, with Israeli forces targeting military facilities and nuclear sites. Earlier, Iran launched dozens of drones towards Israel.
