Trump wins temporary stay to keep control of National Guard ahead of LA protests

AFP | Los Angeles

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The Trump administration won a temporary reprieve to retain control of California National Guard troops at least until Tuesday after a day of legal tussling over the president’s decision to send them to quell demonstrations in Los Angeles that erupted over immigration raids.

US District Judge Charles Breyer originally ordered Donald Trump on Thursday to return control of the reserve force to California’s Governor Gavin Newsom on June 17, ruling that the president’s actions were “illegal.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) slammed Breyer’s Thursday order as “an extraordinary intrusion on the President’s constitutional authority as Commander in Chief” and lodged an immediate appeal.

An appeals court then issued its own ruling within minutes that stayed Breyer’s order until a hearing set for Tuesday so that it had time to consider the DOJ’s appeal. That means Trump will keep control of the National Guard in California during protests planned for Saturday.

Sporadic though spectacular violence has rocked Los Angeles over days of demonstrations against immigration raids launched by the Trump administration.

But the clashes fell “far short” of the “rebellion” the president described to justify his decision to send in the National Guard, Breyer said in a 36-page opinion released Thursday.

Trump’s actions “were illegal... He must therefore return control” of the guardsmen to Newsom, Breyer said. Newsom was quick to celebrate Breyer’s order -- potentially a much-needed win on just one of several fronts that Democratic California is fighting against the White House.