California files federal lawsuit after Trump deploys Guard to LA without governor’s consent
California – Governor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta are suing President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the Department of Defense in federal court. They say that the three of them illegally took control of a California National Guard unit, which they say is an unconstitutional power grab.
The lawsuit comes after a series of events that started when President Trump unexpectedly sent 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, calling it a “rebellion.” That action happened without Governor Newsom’s permission and just days after ICE’s contentious immigration enforcement operation, which made tensions in the city much worse.
Newsom and Bonta said in their lawsuit that what the President did broke both the U.S. Constitution and long-standing federal law.
“This is beyond incompetence — this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand,” Newsom said in a statement.
The confrontation started on June 6, when ICE officials raided homes in Los Angeles without warning and arrested 44 people, including at least two juveniles, who had only a few minor criminal records. The abrupt, military-style presence caused widespread panic and led to a lot of public outcry. There were some problems, but state and local police were able to handle them without requesting help from the federal government.
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Even so, the next day President Trump told the Department of Defense that they might send National Guard troops to help the Department of Homeland Security. He said that the riots in Los Angeles were a rebellion against the federal government, which Newsom and Bonta say is a wildly exaggerated and legally unfounded claim.
“Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion,” Bonta stated. “The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends. Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the President’s authority under the law– and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”
The lawsuit says that the federal government broke all the rules set out in 10 U.S.C. § 12406, which says that the President can only call up the National Guard in very limited and exceptional situations, and only with the governor’s permission. The law has only been employed on its own a few times, most famously by President Nixon during a postal strike in 1970.
Newsom’s lawyers say that this is the first time since the civil rights era that a president has tried to take over a state’s National Guard without getting permission from the governor. They contend that the action not only violates California’s sovereign rights but also deprive the state of crucial emergency resources, including those employed in disaster response and border security operations.
As protests around the state continue to wane and streets return to calm, Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta say they’re determined to prevent what they describe as a “abuse of power” from going unchecked.
