A judge has rejected California Governor Gavin Newsom's desperate appeal to stop the Trump administration from sending military personnel to Los Angeles under an immediate deployment, handing the state a heavy defeat in its fight against federal domination of domestic military involvement.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer refused to grant the temporary restraining order that would have halted the deployment of around 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city.
Rather, as per a report by Xinhua news agency, Breyer has asked the Trump administration to file its formal response to California's motion for emergency relief by 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
The ruling came after California officials alleged that President Trump's deployment of military power was against federal laws—chiefly the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars active-duty military participation in civilian law enforcement matters.
While moving the motion on Tuesday morning, Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta contended that the military intervention caused "immediate and irreparable harm" to the state's sovereignty.
Lawyers for the federal government rejected the state's appeal as "legally meritless" and warned that halting the deployment would be "extraordinary, unprecedented, and dangerous."
They also contended that doing so would "jeopardize the safety of Department of Homeland Security personnel and interfere with the Federal Government's ability to conduct operations.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has assured that the deployment will go forward for 60 days, with estimated costs of up to 134 million U.S. dollars.
The deployment is one of the largest domestic military operations in decades. Judge Breyer—brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer—has called for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Thursday local time to further consider California's legal motion.
Within the timeline provided by the court, the Trump administration must submit its opposition brief by 11:00 a.m. Wednesday and the state would present its counter-arguments by Thursday morning.
If the judge eventually rules in favor of the federal government, California may still take the issue to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has a Democratic-leaning judicial appointments.
Independent of the decision regarding the restraining order, the larger constitutional action brought by California to challenge the constitutionality of the deployment will keep working its way through the courts.
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