Attorney General Bonta Renews Call for Court to Block the Extended Federalization of California National Guard Troops

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom this week renewed their request that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California block the continued federalization and deployment of California National Guard troops in and around Los Angeles. After using isolated incidents of violence in June as a pretext to federalize the California National Guard, the Trump Administration implemented a months-long military occupation of the Los Angeles area, without any justification, and with no apparent end in sight. 

“The Trump Administration is holding California’s National Guard hostage, repeatedly extending their federalization and deployment without basis or justification,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “I urge the District Court to move swiftly and return our hardworking service members back to their regular duty and regular lives.”

“President Trump’s flirtation with authoritarianism must end. Full stop. No president gets to use the National Guard as a personal police force to go after American communities,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “We’re asking the courts — again — to step in, because this isn’t politics, it’s a threat to our democracy and to the safety of the Americans we serve.” 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision clarifying the jurisdiction of the District Court to hear Attorney General Bonta and Governor Newsom’s challenge to the extension orders, and last week, the District Court agreed to restart proceedings. 

In the motion, Attorney General Bonta and Governor Newsom argue there was no basis for the August 5 order extending the federalization of the California National Guard in Los Angeles, and there remains no basis for keeping them in California now. The lack of any violence or other justifying events in Los Angeles and the Trump Administration’s choice to remove most of those troops from Los Angeles to Portland and Chicago confirms it. The Attorney General and Governor urge the District Court to grant their motion, enjoin any continued federalization and deployment of National Guard troops in and around Los Angeles, and return these troops back to the command and control of Governor Newsom.

BACKGROUND  

Attorney General Bonta is committed to holding President Trump and his Administration accountable for overreaching their authority under the law and infringing on Californians’ constitutional rights in their efforts to transform America into a military state and National Guard troops into the President’s personal police force. 

• Initial Federalization of California National Guard: In June, Attorney General Bonta and Governor Newsom filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful orders to federalize the California National Guard and utilize National Guard troops for civilian law enforcement in Los Angeles in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. That same week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted California emergency relief, blocking the federalization order and returning command of the California National Guard to Governor Newsom; that order is currently stayed by the Ninth Circuit pending appeal. 
• Posse Comitatus Act Violations: In August, the Attorney General’s Office presented evidence of Posse Comitatus Act violations during a three-day trial before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Court subsequently granted a permanent injunction enjoining the Trump Administration from engaging in the same or similar activity in the future. The Court’s order is temporarily paused while the Ninth Circuit considers the federal government’s motion for a stay. 
• Deployment of California National Guard Troops to Oregon: Last week, Attorney General Bonta secured a final ruling blocking the unlawful deployment of California National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon over the objections of both states’ governors. Over the course of a three day trial, attorneys for the California Department of Justice, Oregon Department of Justice, and Portland City Attorney’s Office presented evidence and argued in court that the federalization and deployment of the Oregon National Guard and the cross-state deployment of the California National Guard to Portland was beyond the authority of the federal government and violates the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
• Supporting Other States’ Cases: Attorney General Bonta has previously supported Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to their cities. Most recently, Attorney General Bonta filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. Illinois in support of Illinois’s lawsuit challenging the federalization and deployment of the Illinois National Guard to Chicago

A copy of the renewed motion for a preliminary injunction is available here.