Trump, Newsom resume arguing if National Guard can be deployed in LA
National Guard protects federal building in Los Angeles. Photo Andrew Watters via case 3:25-cv-04870
SAN FRANCISCO - Lawyers for both President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed counter court filings on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, over the Posse Comitatus Act – a fancy way of saying it's now allowed to have the military conduct civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer asked both sides to file their arguments by noon.
Trump's attorney, Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Brett Shumate, told the judge that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had already ruled that a president has the power to federalize the National Guard without asking for state permission.
So it would be "illogical to hold that although the president can call up the National Guard, once federalized, it is forbidden from executing the laws," Shumate wrote in Monday's court filing. "In any case, the National Guard is merely performing a protective function, safeguarding federal officials and property, not executing federal laws."
Ninth Circuit sides with Trump: National Guard can stay in Los Angeles
A three-judge panel in San Francisco unanimously sided with President Donald Trump, allowing the California National Guard to stay in Los Angeles,
Meanwhile, California Attorney General Rob Bonta's team of attorneys countered that the Ninth Circuit ruling in favor of Trump did not consider the question of how long such a federalization of the troops is permissible, especially if the situation changes, including if the scene gets more peaceful.
And since the appeals court ruling didn't address how long the Guard could stay in Los Angeles, Meghan Strong, one of Bonta's attorneys, wrote, then Breyer can address that aspect of the deployment.
The appeals court ruling applied to the president's initial invocation of the troops, Strong emphasized, but not the duration.
And in doing so, Newsom's attorneys want to find out whether the Guard and the Marines that Trump also sent in have been used in ways that violate the Posse Comitatus Act, such as conducting operations on the streets and in communities in Southern California, instead of protecting federal property as the Trump administration has stated.
Newsom's team wants documentation that justifies the continued deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California.
For example, Newsom's team pointed out that on June 17, National Guard members joined a Drug Enforcement Administration raid on marijuana farms in Coachella Valley.
Breyer has not stated when he will issue his next order on the matter, and for now, the National Guard can remain in Los Angeles.