Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) suffered a legal loss on Tuesday when a federal judge denied his request for an immediate restraining order against President Donald Trump to prevent him from using the California National Guard to restore order in Los Angeles.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, appointed to serve as a federal judge for the Northern District of California by former President Bill Clinton, rejected Newsom’s request, arguing that the Trump administration deserved time to respond to Newsom’s demands.
Breyer set a hearing date for Thursday where he will review the legal arguments surrounding Trump’s decision, giving the president at least until then to continue using the National Guard and the Marines to enforce order in the city.
The President filed a notice of opposition on Tuesday, calling Newsom’s request for an immediate restraining order “legally meritless.”
“Plaintiffs’ motion is legally meritless. It seeks an extraordinary, unprecedented, and dangerous court order. If entered, Plaintiffs’ proposed order would jeopardize the safety of Department of Homeland Security personnel and interfere with the Federal Government’s ability to carry out operations,” said the notice of opposition.
Breyer’s ruling also granted the administration’s request for more time to respond to Newsom’s arguments, giving them until 2 p.m. on Wednesday to file their response before the Thursday hearing.
Newsom initially announced his lawsuit on Monday, after President Trump mobilized the California National Guard against the governor’s wishes. Although a governor is the commander-in-chief of a state’s National Guard, the president does have the legal authority to deploy them without the governor’s consent in cases of insurrection or foreign invasion.
Trump’s deployment came in response to widespread riots in Los Angeles, which included attacks on law enforcement in an attempt to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from enforcing immigration law.
Currently, Trump has activated 4,000 National Guardsmen and 700 Marines to restore order in the city and protect federal agents and property.
Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) signed a letter from the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) on Sunday condemning Trump’s use of the National Guard.
“President Trump’s move to deploy California’s National Guard is an alarming abuse of power. Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous,” the Democrat governors said the statement.
Despite the outrage from Democratic politicians and left-wing activists, a poll of 1,000 likely voters from Insider Advantage, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, found that a majority supports the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles by a 20-point margin. Fifty-nine percent of respondents approved, compared to just 39 percent who disapproved. Notably, 89 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of Independents, and 37 percent of Democrats approved of the decision.
