Trump’s extended takeover of California National Guard illegal, judge rules

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled early Wednesday that the Trump administration’s extended takeover of the California National Guard is illegal, temporarily barring the federal government from continuing to deploy the state’s troops.

However, the order by Judge Charles Breyer was delayed until Monday to give the administration time to appeal, given the complex legal environment in which two of Breyer’s earlier orders in the case have already been stayed by an appeals court.

President Donald Trump federalized that California National Guard over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom last June, amid protests of the administration’s immigration sweeps in Los Angeles that had become violent. Newsom sued, and the case has bounced back and forth between Breyer’s courtroom and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is still considering elements of it. Additional cases challenging National Guard deployments in Oregon, Illinois and Washington, D.C., continue to make their way through the courts.

Breyer, who has made his frustration with the administration’s continued deployment and its legal arguments and continued deployment, criticized the government sharply in his order. He said there was no evidence that the execution of federal law had been impeded, which is required to legally federalize the Guard.

“The founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances,” Breyer wrote. “Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one. “

Since deploying the Guard to respond to the Los Angeles protests, the administration has greatly reduced the number of soldiers from a peak of 4,000, plus another 700 Marines, last summer. But officials have twice extended their service and sent Guard members to Oregon and Illinois.

Although the 9th Circuit stayed Breyer’s earlier ruling that the entire deployment was illegal, Wednesday’s decision addressed only the administration’s move to extend its control of the California Guard beyond the original 60-day authorization.

Breyer ordered the president to relinquish control of the Guard, though only temporarily, and noted that future call-ups could still be legally justified under different circumstances.

Newsom welcomed the ruling, writing on the social media platform X that the federalization of the state guard “must end.”

“Donald Trump diverted these brave men and women from their vital public safety operations and deployed them against the very communities they took an oath to serve,” Newsom wrote.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the deployment would indeed end before its scheduled sunset date next month, or whether Trump would call the soldiers up again.

Instead of granting Newsom’s request to block any future deployments, Breyer said the state must return to court to contest any future federal actions.

“Plaintiffs may return to this Court to challenge any future federalization order that they believe violates the law,” he wrote.

This story was originally published December 10, 2025 at 8:50 AM.