In a significant legal victory for the White House, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump can continue deploying California National Guard troops in response to protests in Los Angeles, while a lawsuit challenging the move is still pending.
The decision came from a unanimous panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, consisting of two judges appointed by Trump and one appointed by President Joe Biden. The court concluded that Trump likely acted within his legal authority when he federalized the National Guard on June 7, Bloomberg reported.
“We conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority,” the panel wrote in its ruling, issued late Thursday. The court emphasized that its decision was focused solely on Trump’s authority to deploy the troops, not on what specific actions the federalized Guard may undertake once mobilized.
The ruling effectively lifts an earlier injunction by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who had blocked the deployment, expressing skepticism that the protests alone constituted a rebellion or required federal military intervention.
Legal and political observers have weighed in on the significance of the appeals court’s findings. Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he found it “notable” that the court acknowledged Trump had a “colorable” legal basis to call up the Guard. Cheney explained that this meant justification: “One person could disagree with it, but not enough to find it absurd or obviously meritless.”
He further noted the court’s rejection of the Trump administration’s broader claim that the judiciary had no authority to review the president’s decision, stating, “But they rejected his admin’s claim that courts had no role reviewing it.”
The case, which has drawn national attention amid renewed debates over presidential powers in civil unrest, is not yet settled. According to Bloomberg, California may appeal the panel’s decision either to the full Ninth Circuit or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. A follow-up hearing is scheduled in the lower court for Friday.
While the appeals court has temporarily cleared the way for troop deployment, broader questions remain over how federalized National Guard forces can or should be used in response to domestic protests—a topic that could shape future executive actions in times of civil unrest.