A federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles, finding that the president exceeded his authority and violated the law in doing so. As President Donald Trump seeks to expand his strategy of sending troops into predominantly Democratic, Black-led cities, the ruling represents judicial opposition to the president’s agenda.
A federal judge ruled that Trump broke the law by using the military as a police force in California
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled Tuesday that federal troops deployed to Los Angeles by the Trump administration have routinely and systematically violated the law. Specifically, the Clinton appointee determined that these troops had been tasked to engage in routine law enforcement functions and thus violated the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the U.S. military from acting as a domestic police force without express authorization from Congress. Breyer ruled that under Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a National Guard task force deployed to California “was expressly instructed that it could engage in certain law enforcement activities: setting up protective perimeters, traffic blockades, crowd control, and the like” without Congressional approval, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
Administration ordered to stop using National Guard for police functions
Breyer’s ruling states the Trump administration must discontinue the use of the National Guard or any other federal troops in California from “engaging in arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants.” The ruling, issued in response to a lawsuit filed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., will not go into effect immediately; Breyer has given the administration until Sept. 12 to respond before it must comply. The ruling does not require the withdrawal of the roughly 300 troops that remain from the deployment that began in June; a separate, earlier ruling by Breyer, which found Trump had illegally deployed troops to California, was overturned on appeal.
Ruling challenges Trump’s intervention policy
The ruling represents a significant pushback against the Trump administration’s strategy of deploying federal troops to urban areas, specifically targeting largely Democratic populations led by Black mayors. As Blavity reported, the deployment of federal troops from the National Guard and the Marines to Los Angeles in June came in response to protests against Trump’s heavy-handed immigration raids in the area. Later this summer, Trump deployed National Guard forces to police Washington, D.C.; this ongoing intervention relies on a separate authority granted to the president to govern the nation’s capital, which is federal territory. Trump has threatened to expand his federal deployment to other cities, naming Chicago as his next target.
In his ruling, Breyer warned that Trump was “creating a national police force with the President as its chief.” The administration will likely appeal, but if it stands, it may represent significant resistance against Trump’s expanding federal intervention plan.
