Federal appeals court hands Trump big win, lets him maintain control over California National Guard

A federal appeals court ruled late Thursday that President Donald Trump may retain control over California’s National Guard while Gov. Gavin Newsom pursues a lawsuit challenging the administration's use of the troops to quell anti-immigration enforcement riots in Los Angeles.

A three-judge panel at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed Trump a victory by unanimously extending its pause on U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer’s ruling that the president had activated the National Guard into federal service illegally.

Breyer ruled Trump violated U.S. law governing a president’s ability to take control of a state’s National Guard by failing to coordinate with the governor, and also found that the conditions set out under the statute to allow this move, such as a rebellion against federal authority, did not exist.

But the appellate judges ruled unanimously that Trump likely would prevail in the lawsuit, and therefore could maintain control over the guard units for the time being.

"Affording the President that deference, we conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority under § 12406(3), which authorizes federalization of the National Guard when the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States," the court stated.