The judges weighing in on the Trump v. Newsom battle over National Guard

High-stakes clash between Trump and Newsom heads to court

The 9th Circuit Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a high-profile legal battle between President Trump and Governor Newsom over who has authority to control California’s National Guard.

SAN FRANCISCO - A three-panel bank of judges for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday is hearing oral arguments in the Trump v. Newsom case over who has the authority to send in the National Guard to California – Trump, as president of the United States, or Newsom, as governor of the state?

All the judges will be hearing the arguments remotely as they don't work in San Francisco. But the courtroom at the James R. Browning building will be open and offer seating for up to 100 people. 

Here is a look at the judges who will be deciding on the case, after the lower court, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer – a Democratic President Bill Clinton appointee - sided with Newsom last week.

Judge Eric D. Miller

Miller works in Seattle and was appointed by Republican President Donald Trump in March 2019.

Miller was born in 1975 in Oak Park, Illinois. He graduated from Harvard University in 1996, and from the University of Chicago Law School in 1999. He served as a law clerk for US Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas in 2000 and 2001, he was deputy general counsel to the Federal Communications Commission in 2006 to 2007, and he was a part-time lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law in 20-4 and 2017.

Judge Mark J. Bennett 

Bennett works in Honolulu and was appointed by Trump in July 2018. 

He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1953. He earned his bachelor's degree from Union College in 1976 and his law degree from Cornell Law School in 1979. He clerked for Chief Judge Samuel P. King of the Unitied States District Court for the District of Hawaii. He served as  the attorney general of Hawaii from 2003 to 2010. He has expertise in complex civil and appellate litigation and in 2016, joined the Federalist Society.  

Judge Jennifer Sung

Sung works in Portland and was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden in December 2021. 

She graduated Oberlin College in 1994 and Yale Law School in 2004. She was an organizer for the Service Employees International Union in Syracuse, New York in 1995, a law clerk for 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Betty Binns Fletcher from 2004 to 2005 and had a private practice in San Francisco and Portland from 2007 to 2017.