A three-day bench trial will begin Monday over whether President Trump’s National Guard deployment to Los Angeles violated a general prohibition on using federal troops as civilian law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer will hear testimony from three military and immigration officials as the judge weighs whether sending in troops to combat immigration protests violated the Posse Comitatus Act. This marks a major legal confrontation between Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has condemned the deployment as political theater and broadly framed himself as the face of resistance against the president’s agenda.
Newsom sued Trump in June as the president federalized the California National Guard to combat immigration protests in Los Angeles that sometimes turned violent. Breyer ruled Trump illegally federalized the National Guard and ordered he hand back control to Newsom, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals quickly lifted the ruling until it resolves the administration’s appeal. The trial does not address what activities the troops may engage in while on the ground. Newsom asserts the deployment violates the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 federal law that generally bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement. The Trump administration argues the Posse Comitatus Act provides no pathway for California to sue, and the Justice Department insists the trial is unnecessary.
