AG Bonta today celebrated the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw its legal effort to block an order by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ending the continued federalization and deployment of California National Guard troops in and around Los Angeles. The Trump Administration’s capitulation comes on the heels of a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a related case, Illinois v. Trump, rejecting its nearly limitless conception of presidential authority to federalize the National Guard and the activities those troops can engage in.    

“For six months, California National Guard troops have been used as political pawns by a President desperate to be king. […] There is a reason our founders decided military and civilian affairs must be kept separate; a reason that our military is, by design, apolitical. Now, in the face of a stinging rebuke by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trump Administration is backing away from its efforts to federalize and deploy California National Guard troops. I’m incredibly proud of my team who worked nights and weekends to defend the Constitution and bring about an end of the President’s unlawful overreach of executive power. While our rule of law remains under threat, our democratic institutions are holding. My office is not backing down — and we’re ready for whatever fights lie ahead.” – AG Bonta