A federal appeals court has found that President Donald Trump exceeded his legal authority and violated the constitutional separation of powers when he took control of California’s National Guard in June 2025.
In its opinion in Newsom v. Trump, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that neither section of the federal law the administration relied on authorized the president’s initial order federalizing the Guard. Circuit Judge Sung wrote the opinion.
“exceeded the President’s statutory authority and encroached on Congress’s calling forth power”
The administration had argued the order was justified under 10 U.S.C. § 12406(2), which allows the president to call the Guard into federal service when there is a rebellion or danger of one against federal authority. The court found California likely to succeed on its claim that treating conditions in Los Angeles on June 7, 2025, as “a rebellion or danger of rebellion” did not reflect a colorable assessment within a “range of honest judgment.”
A second provision, § 12406(3), also failed to support the order. Under a Supreme Court order in a case involving Illinois, the president must first show he has statutory or constitutional authority to execute the laws with the regular military and is unable to do so with those forces. According to the opinion, the administration made neither showing.
Because the order was ultra vires and unconstitutional, the court said, the balance of equities favors granting injunctive relief.
The case began in early June 2025, when federal immigration enforcement led to public demonstrations in Los Angeles. Trump then invoked § 12406 to order 4,000 members of California’s Guard into federal service for 60 days to protect federal property and personnel.
California and Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Trump, the secretary of defense and the Department of Defense. After a hearing, a federal district court barred the deployment of Guard members in Los Angeles and directed that control of the Guard be returned to Newsom.
The administration appealed right away and sought an emergency stay. The 9th Circuit granted that request on June 19, 2025, while the appeal moved forward.
In a post on X, Newsom’s press office said the ruling makes it official that Trump violated the Constitution and the law when he claimed there was a “rebellion” and took over the Guard.
Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote that the court had made clear the deployment was unlawful and unconstitutional. He said the ruling also blocked what he called the administration’s “transparent attempt” to keep a path open to federalize the Guard again over California’s objections.
Bonta vowed to keep fighting to hold the president accountable when he “tramples on the Constitution,” adding, “and we’ll win.”
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