president donald trump deploys national guard california
"Presidents set precedents and this one is escalatory, incendiary, and could come back to haunt all Americans," Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said June 8.
Trump's order gives 2,000 soldiers the authority to protect federal property like office buildings but no power to arrest civilians, according to a spokesperson for U.S. Northern Command, which is directing the operation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also has put an active-duty Marine unit on orders to prepare to deploy to California.
The 300 members of the California National Guard who deployed Sunday to three sites in Los Angeles appeared to face little in the way of organized opposition, according to a Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly. Their presence was a performative show of force, the official said, as their authority is clearly restricted.
Most of the Guard soldiers are military police officers whose day jobs typically are in civilian law enforcement. They understand the need for restraint, the official said. If they see a protester vandalize federal property, a Social Security Administration office, for example, they can detain the suspect and turn them over to local police.
Trump's order fell short of invoking the Insurrection Act, an 18th century law that gives the president authority to use the military to enforce federal law, suppress a rebellion or protect a group's civil rights if the state does not do so. It was last invoked in 1992 during by President George HW Bush at the request of California's governor in response to riots after police officers involved in the beating of Rodney King had been acquitted.
Trump and Hegseth's unilateral action over Newsom's objection sets dangerous precedent, Reed said in a statement.
"It is crucial that decisions of this magnitude are made with transparency, restraint, and respect for constitutional balance," Reed said. "The President and Defense Secretary should immediately stand down these troops and Congress should reject this dangerous overreaction."
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