Federal judge rules Trump violated military law by activating National Guard in California

A judge on Tuesday found that President Donald Trump acted unlawfully when he federalized the National Guard and deployed a handful of Marines to address anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots and protests in California.

Judge Charles Breyer’s opinion echoed remarks he made during a three-day trial last month when he questioned if presidents have any limits on when they can use the military for domestic purposes.

“I go back to the thing that I’m really troubled by: What limiting factors are there to the use of this force?” Breyer asked during the trial.

Trump federalized about 4,000 National Guard members in June to support federal authorities in California as they carried out immigration raids, despite Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s vehement objections.

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Breyer’s decision comes as most of the National Guard members have since been demobilized. Attorneys for California said during the trial, though, that 300 of them remained, which they argued was a “significant” number.

“That’s certainly a large enough number of soldiers to constitute a Posse Comitatus Act violation,” a state attorney said.

While the judge’s decision may have minimal impact on the ground in California, the case could still have nationwide implications as Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth deploy National Guard members in Washington, D.C., and threaten to do so in other blue cities to address street crime. The Trump administration is likely to appeal Breyer’s decision, which could result in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and even the Supreme Court weighing in on the administration’s unconventional use of the National Guard.

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Breyer, a Clinton appointee and brother to retired liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, said Trump violated the Posse Comitatus Act, a 150-year-old law that says the military cannot typically engage in domestic law enforcement.

One witness during the trial, Major General Scott Sherman, who oversaw National Guard activity in California, testified that soldiers were trained on how to stay in compliance with the Posse Comitatus Act, which Breyer said was evidence that it was relevant to the lawsuit. The Trump administration said the law was not applicable in the case.

The judge’s decision comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit quickly halted an emergency order Breyer issued in June in which he ordered Trump and Hegseth to hand control of the National Guard back to Newsom.

The courts must be “highly deferential” to the president when reviewing his deployment of the National Guard, the appellate court found. The Trump administration is likely to appeal Breyer’s decision, meaning the Ninth Circuit will likely once again be asked to weigh in on Trump’s use of the military in California.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.