Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings

What happened

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer Thursday ruled that President Donald Trump must relinquish control of the California National Guard to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), calling the president's Guard deployment to Los Angeles an "illegal" overreach and violation of the 10th Amendment. A federal appellate court Thursday night halted Breyer's ruling until at least Tuesday. Earlier in the day, tensions over Trump's operation had flared when federal agents forcibly removed Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) from an L.A. news conference and handcuffed him on the ground after he tried to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question.

Who said what

Breyer's 36-page ruling was an "extraordinary rebuke of Trump's unprecedented use of the military to support federal immigration authorities as they carry out deportation raids amid volatile protests in Los Angeles," Politico said. The protests, contrary to Trump's characterization, "fall far short of 'rebellion,'" Breyer said. And "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."

Padilla interrupted Noem at Thursday's briefing as she promised to "liberate" Los Angeles from the "socialists and burdensome leadership." DHS said the federal agents did not recognize the U.S. senator and "thought he was an attacker," and they "claimed erroneously that Padilla did not identify himself," The Associated Press said. Video of the "shocking" scene "ricocheted through the halls of Congress" and "prompted immediate outrage" from "stunned Democrats." If this is how DHS "responds to a senator with a question," Padilla said, "you can only imagine what they're doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What next?

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the government's appeal of Breyer's ruling on Tuesday, "ensuring Trump's deployment will remain in place at least into next week," Politico said.