Trump can’t use National Guard, military in California to enforce laws, Judge Breyer rules

The National Guard, police and protesters stand off outside of a downtown jail in Los Angeles following two days of clashes with police during a series of immigration raids on June 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Senior District Judge Charles R. Breyer Source: USDC | Northern District of California

In mid-August, Trump placed Washington, D.C.'s police force under federal control and deployed National Guard troops in that city to address what he claims is a rampant crime problem. On Tuesday, Trump, in a social media post, said that at least 54 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, and warned, "I will solve the crime problem fast, just like I did in DC." Breyer in his ruling warned that further deployments of Guard and military troops in other American cities would create "a national police force with the President as its chief." "President Trump's recent executive orders and public statements regarding the National Guard raise serious concerns as to whether he intends to order troops to violate the Posse Comitatus Act elsewhere in California," the judge wrote. California Gov. Gavin Newsom gloated about the ruling in a social media post. "DONALD TRUMP LOSES AGAIN," Newsom wrote on X.

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted an emergency temporary restraining order to stop President Trump's deployment of the California National Guard, Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the California State Supreme Court building in San Francisco. San Francisco Chronicle/hearst Newspapers | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images

Breyer, in his ruling, wrote, "Congress spoke clearly in 1878 when it passed the Posse Comitatus Act, prohibiting the use of the U.S. military to execute domestic law." "Nearly 140 years later, Defendants — President Trump, Secretary of Defense Hegseth, and the Department of Defense — deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, ostensibly to quell a rebellion and ensure that federal immigration law was enforced," the judge wrote. "There were indeed protests in Los Angeles, and some individuals engaged in violence," Breyer wrote. "Yet there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond to the protests and enforce the law."

Police and national guards take measures as thousands of anti-ICE protesters are gathered outside of the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California on June 9, 2025 amid protests over immigration raids. Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu | Getty Images