National Guard troops will stay under Trump's control, for now, under 9th Circuit order
In a late-night order Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals paused a court order that would have required President Donald Trump to return control of the thousands of California National Guard troops in Los Angeles to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The 9th Circuit's emergency stay came hours after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco ruled that Trump broke the law when he mobilized thousands of Guard members amid protests over immigration raids, and must return the troops to state control by noon Friday.
A three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit, including two judges appointed by Trump and one by President Joe Biden, scheduled a Tuesday hearing in the case, meaning the National Guard will remain federalized through the weekend.
In a 36-page U.S. District court decision, Breyer wrote that Trump's actions 'were illegal — both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution.' Breyer added that he was 'troubled by the implication' inherent in the Trump administration's argument that 'protest against the federal government, a core civil liberty protected by the First Amendment, can justify a finding of rebellion.'
Newsom, who filed the lawsuit along with the state of California, called the ruling 'a win for all Americans.'
'Today was really about the test of democracy, and today we passed the test,' Newsom told reporters in a building that houses the California Supreme Court in San Francisco.
The ruling, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters, is 'a critical early indication that upon quick review of the facts of our case, the court sees the merits of our argument.'
'We aren't in the throes of a rebellion,' Bonta said. 'We are not under threat of an invasion. Nothing is preventing the federal government from enforcing federal law. The situation in Los Angeles last weekend didn't warrant the deployment of military troops, and their arrival only inflamed the situation.'
The Trump administration filed a notice of appeal in the case late Thursday.
During the hearing with Breyer, the judge seemed skeptical of the Justice Department's argument that courts could not question the president's judgment on key legal issues, including whether the protests and unrest in Los Angeles constituted either 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion.'
'We're talking about the president exercising his authority, and of course, the president is limited in his authority,' Breyer said. 'That's the difference between the president and King George.'
Trump and the White House have argued that the military mobilization is legal under Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Forces, which gives the president the authority to federalize the National Guard if there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States.'
'The protests in Los Angeles fall far short of 'rebellion,'' Breyer wrote. There were instances of violence, he said, but the Trump administration did not identify 'a violent, armed, organized, open and avowed uprising against the government as a whole.'
'The evidence is overwhelming that protesters gathered to protest a single issue — the immigration raids,' Breyer wrote.
Title 10 also requires that orders from the president 'be issued through the governors of the States.'
As governor, Newsom is the commander in chief of the California National Guard. Last Saturday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent a memo to the head of the California Guard to mobilize nearly 2,000 members, who then sent the memo to Newsom's office, the state's complaint said. Neither Newsom nor his office consented to the mobilization, the lawsuit said.
Newsom wrote to Hegseth on Sunday, asking him to rescind the troop deployment. The letter said the mobilization was 'a serious breach of state sovereignty that seems intentionally designed to inflame the situation, while simultaneously depriving the state from deploying these personnel and resources where they are truly required.'
'I'm trying to figure out how something is 'through' somebody, if in fact you didn't send it to him,' Breyer asked. 'As long as he gets a copy of it at some point, it's going through?'
Breyer was less willing, however, to engage in the legality of Trump's deployment of U.S. Marines to Los Angeles. Attorneys for California noted that 140 Marines were scheduled to relieve and replace Guardsmen over the next 24 hours.
Protests emerged across Los Angeles on Friday in response to a series of flash raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the county. A handful of agitators among the protesters committed violence and vandalism, prompting Trump to quickly deploy the California National Guard to respond. He added active-duty Marines to the operation Monday. Protests, and some sporadic violent rioting, have continued since the deployments.
Trump has said that the mobilization was necessary to 'deal with the violent, instigated riots,' and that without the National Guard, 'Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.'
Breyer said that the Trump administration had identified 'some stray violent incidents relating to the protests,' and from there, he said, 'boldly claim that state and local officials were 'unable to bring rioters under control.''
'It is not the federal government's place in our constitutional system to take over a state's police power whenever it is dissatisfied with how vigorously or quickly the state is enforcing its own laws,' Breyer wrote.
The attorneys general from 18 other states, as well as Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto, supported California's position in the case.
___
© 2025 Los Angeles Times.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
After day of nationwide protests, Trump's military parade rolls through D.C
By Phil Stewart, Jeff Mason, Brad Brooks and Karl Plume WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's long-sought military parade rolled though the streets of downtown Washington on Saturday, but the celebration of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary was marred by a day of violence and discord. In the hours before the parade began, hundreds of thousands of Americans marched and rallied in streets in cities from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, protesting Trump's actions while in office, in the largest such actions since his return to power in January. Earlier in the day, a gunman assassinated a Democratic lawmaker and wounded another in Minnesota and remained at large. Meanwhile, Israel and Iran exchanged further attacks early on Sunday, stoking fears of a mushrooming conflict between the two nations. All of it followed a week of tension in Los Angeles, where protests over federal immigration raids resulted in Trump calling in National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to help keep the peace, over the objections of the state's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. The parade, which fell on Trump's 79th birthday, kicked off earlier than expected with thunderstorms forecast in the Washington area. Tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery rumbled down the parade route along storied Constitution Avenue, an unusual sight in the U.S. where such displays of military might are rare. "Every other country celebrates their victories, it's about time America did too," Trump told the crowd following the parade. Thousands of spectators lined up along the route. Trump watched the proceedings from an elevated viewing stand behind bulletproof glass. Some of the president's opponents also managed to find a spot along the parade route, holding signs in protest. Other demonstrators were kept separate from the parade crowd by local police. The U.S. Army has brought nearly 7,000 troops into Washington, along with 150 vehicles, including more than 25 M1 Abrams tanks, 28 Stryker armored vehicles, four Paladin self-propelled artillery vehicles, and artillery pieces including the M777 and M119. ARMY'S HISTORY The parade traced the history of the Army from its founding during the Revolutionary War through modern day. Trump frequently stood and saluted troops as they marched by. Members of Trump's cabinet including Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio looked on. Trump had first expressed interest in a military parade in Washington early in his first 2017-2021 term in office. In 1991, tanks and thousands of troops paraded through Washington to celebrate the ousting of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait in the Gulf War. The celebrations were expected to cost the U.S. Army between $25 million and $45 million, U.S. officials have told Reuters. That includes the parade itself as well as the cost of moving equipment and housing and feeding the troops. Critics have called the parade an authoritarian display of power that is wasteful, especially given Trump has said he wants to slash costs throughout the federal government. Bryan Henrie, a Trump supporter, flew in from Texas to celebrate the Army's anniversary and did not see any issues with tanks rolling down the streets of Washington. 'I don't see a controversy. I will celebrate safety and stability any day over anarchy,' 61-year-old Henrie said. 'SHAME! SHAME!' Earlier in the day, thousands marched in Washington and other cities in protest of Trump's policies. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, and marked the largest outpouring of opposition to Trump's presidency since he returned to power in January. In Los Angeles, however, the situation remained tense. About an hour before a downtown curfew, police officers mounted on horses were aggressively pushing back demonstrators, using gas, flash bangs and other less lethal munitions, causing large groups to panic and flee. Protesters were firing what police called commercial-grade fireworks against officers, along with rocks and bottles. Some demonstrators wore gas masks and helmets and vowed to stay in the area for many more hours. A crowd earlier had confronted soldiers guarding a federal building, yelling 'Shame! Shame!' and 'Marines, get out of LA!' Anti-Trump groups planned nearly 2,000 demonstrations across the country to coincide with the parade. Many took place under the theme "No Kings," asserting that no individual is above the law. Thousands of people of all ages turned out in and around Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan, many carrying homemade signs that played off the 'No Kings' theme. 'No crown for a clown,' said one. Actor Mark Ruffalo was among the demonstrators, wearing a hat that read "immigrant." 'We're seeing dehumanizing language towards LGBT people, towards people with autism, towards people with other disabilities, racial minorities, undocumented people,' said Cooper Smith, 20, from upstate New York. 'Somebody's got to show that most Americans are against this.' Protesters in downtown Chicago stood off against police on Saturday, with some waving upside-down American flags and chanting: 'Who do you protect? Who do you serve?' and 'No justice, no peace." Members of the far-right Proud Boys, ardent Trump supporters, appeared at an Atlanta "No Kings" protest, wearing the group's distinctive black and yellow colors. About 400 protesters, organized by a group called marched through Washington and gathered for a rally in a park opposite the White House. Trump had warned people against protesting at the parade itself, saying that "they're going to be met with very big force." Sunsara Taylor, a founder of RefuseFascism, told the crowd, 'Today we refuse to accept Donald Trump unleashing the military against the people of this country and in the streets of this country. We say, 'Hell no.''
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Kids are ditching traditional college for career tech programs. Parents are concerned.
Kids are ditching traditional college for career tech programs. Parents are concerned. Show Caption Hide Caption Trump signs order to combat 'woke' university accreditation process President Donald Trump directed the Justice and Education Depts. to investigate universities for 'unlawful discrimination' and 'ideological overreach. More teens are showing interest in vocational training and other non-college options after high school. Parents tend to favor traditional four-year colleges over non-degree career paths, according to a new survey from nonprofit American Student Assistance. Financial concerns and a desire for hands-on work are driving some students toward technical education. Nush Ahmed, 22, said she was "stubborn" when she went against her parents' wishes and chose to attend a career technical program 800 miles from home instead of enrolling in a traditional four-year college nearby. Her parents, who live in Buffalo, New York, and immigrated from Bangladesh, said they believed a bachelor's degree was the only path to success. But Ahmed insisted. She's one of a growing number of high school graduates turning to technical schools over two or four-year colleges at a time of spiraling student debt and new incentives for vocational education. Ahmed's choice to forego college and pursue a career working in manufacturing made her an outlier in her South Asian immigrant community, where most parents expect young women to attend college near home, she said. "I was hoping that time she would go to either medical school or engineering college to become a doctor or engineer," said her father, Shuhel Ahmed. "But she really wanted to go into to this career, so I finally decided to let her go." By the numbers: How do kids and parents feel about career technical education programs? New survey data from the nonprofit American Student Assistance shows that teen interest in college is down while interest in nondegree paths is on the rise. Meanwhile, parents are skeptical of options outside of the traditional college pathway to work. Nearly half of all students surveyed – 45% – weren't interested in going to college. About 14% said they planned to attend trade or technical schools, apprenticeships and technical bootcamp programs and 38% were considering those options. Some 66% of teens surveyed said parents supported their plans to pursue a nondegree route compared with 82% whose parents encouraged them to attend college. More: In emergency appeal, Trump asks Supreme Court to let him gut Education Department Seventy percent said their parents were more supportive of foregoing education altogether right after high school rather than pursuing a nondegree program. Young people told USA TODAY that finances, along with the desire to enter the workforce without more classroom-type academics, were among their reasons for choosing technical education. The financial burden of college was on Andrew Townsend's mind when he opted out of college. Townsend graduated from high school in Golden, Colorado, this June and decided against college, saying he wanted to go to work right away. The choice was easy for Townsend, 19, because he was offered an apprenticeship as a manufacturing technician for printer manufacturer Lexmark during his senior year through his school's career and technical education program. That turned into an 18-month internship. "When I went into high school I anticipated going to college and going into biology or sports management," Townsend said. "But I can't sit still in a class, and I want to get my hands dirty and get into work. It's financially best for me right now." More: Is the push for career education prioritizing business over students? His dad, construction worker Corey Townsend, wasn't sure what path his son would take, but he supports Andrew's choice. "My family doesn't have the most amount of money," Andrew Townsend said. "Maybe if I want to go to college later on in life, that's a choice. But for now I want to focus on myself and make my life better for me." College costs vs. career technical education costs At the nation's public colleges and universities, the average cost for in-state tuition is $9,750 per year and and the average cost for out-of-state tuition is $28,386, according to researchers at the Education Data Initiative. The price tag is higher at private colleges. The average cost of tuition and fees at those schools is $38,421,. The Education Data Initiative estimates college tuition has doubled in the 21st century. The costs of career technical education varies widely by trade and program. The average cost of a complete trade school program's tuition and fees was $15,070 during the 2022-2023 school year, according to data from the federal Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics. The Trump administration advances non-college options As parents and teens navigate their post-college options, President Donald Trump and his administration have championed career technical programs as a viable alternative to traditional two-year and four-year colleges. "Under my leadership, America will once again champion a culture where hard work is rewarded and equip our people with real skills for real careers that our communities are in desperate need to fill," Trump said in a Feb. 3 statement. "By offering more alternatives to higher education, we will train college-aged kids in relevant skills for the 21st century economy." More: Colleges report widespread problems with financial aid since Education Department layoffs During Trump's first term, he signed a bill called the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act into law. The law allows the federal government to provide states and local communities funding to enhance career and technical education programming. This term, the Trump administration announced it is reversing two Biden-era regulations that require states and local career technical education programs at high schools and community colleges to change the way they report on student progress to receive federal funding. What to do after high school ...if you're not heading straight to college 'They should let them follow their dreams' New survey data from Gallup, Walton Family Foundation and Jobs for the Future of 1,327 teens shows that most high school students and their parents are unaware of their post-high school options outside of the traditional four-year college path. The uncertainty resonated with Ahmed's father, who saw college as the only pathway to success for his daughter. Father and daughter now agree the path she chose has afforded her immense opportunity. If she could go back in time, Ahmed said, she would be less harsh on her parents for pushing college. Ahmed is enjoying the success that has come from completing a technical education program at the Universal Technical Institute, formerly known as NASCAR Technical Institute, in North Carolina. She works at a precision manufacturing company that specializes in metal and polymer 3D printing and has a podcast that highlights young people pursuing trade options after high school. She earns about $60,000 a year at her day job. "With the way she has gone through this and how she is doing now, I would say to parents that if kids want to try a short term school they should let them do and then see how it goes," Ahmed's father said. "If it goes well then great and if not, there's time to change. But they should let them follow their dreams." Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@ Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
This Vermont Town Loves Its Canadian Neighbors. Trump Made Things Complicated.
On the front porch of her tidy yellow house on Canusa Street — so named because it runs along the border with Canada in tiny Beebe Plain, Vt. — Jan Beadle recently removed the American flag and hung a Canadian one in its place. Ms. Beadle, who has lived along the border for 71 years, hoped that the red maple leaf rippling in the breeze would send a message to her neighbors in the country across the way: I stand with you. And I'm sorry. 'I do feel like it reflects on me, somehow,' she said of President Trump's frequent jabs at Canada, including his imposition of steep new tariffs and his talk of making it the 51st state. 'As a kid, my family went to church in Canada. I went to the movie theater there, and to a youth club. We were just a group of kids together. We weren't labeled as Canadian or American.' The economic impact of Mr. Trump's trade war with Canada is already palpable on both sides of the border. Economic data shows a steep drop-off in spending by Canadians at Vermont hotels and restaurants; normally, 750,000 Canadian visitors spend $150 million in the state each year. Governors of New England states plan to meet on Monday in Boston with leaders from five Canadian provinces to strategize about the strain in their trade relations. But in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, where many towns and villages sit close by the border, residents also fear the loss of a kinship that has run deep for as long as they can remember. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
