A federal judge is set to consider California Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent Donald Trump from deploying national guard troops and marines to quell protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. The hearing, scheduled in federal district court in San Francisco, follows a previous denial of an immediate injunction against the administration. This request is part of a lawsuit by California challenging Trump’s mobilization of over 4,000 national guard troops and 700 marines, despite Newsom’s objections.
The lawsuit questions the legitimacy of Trump’s order and seeks to nullify it, arguing that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, bypassed Newsom unlawfully. The focus of the upcoming hearing will be on the Title 10 statute invoked by Trump, allowing the federalization of the national guard in cases of “rebellion or a danger of rebellion.”
California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, will argue that Newsom’s approval was necessary for such a mobilization, emphasizing that the protests did not constitute a rebellion requiring national guard intervention. In response, the Trump administration asserts the president’s discretion in federalizing the national guard and argues against judicial interference in military deployment decisions.
Moreover, the Justice Department refutes Newsom’s portrayal of the situation, stating that the military’s role would be protective, not for law enforcement purposes. Trump’s previous considerations of deploying troops against protests and his expressed regret for not doing so more aggressively in the past add a political backdrop to the legal debate.
