On Wednesday, a federal judge mandated that California Governor Gavin Newsom regain command of the federalized California National Guard troops that Donald Trump had sent to Los Angeles. The deployment was declared illegal by the judge, who rejected arguments that the city’s recent protests qualified as a “rebellion” that would warrant a federal takeover.
By late October, only about 100 Guard personnel were still in the region, despite the fact that over 4,000 had been federalized in June. The court decided that the residual forces were no longer warranted. The directive invalidating the deployment emphasizes the idea that presidents cannot arbitrarily overrule state control of the Guard and represents a major limit on federal authority over state-controlled forces.
Although the government has hinted that it may file an appeal, the decision is a significant setback to current attempts to employ military force for domestic enforcement inside American cities.