California officials have condemned the Trump administration’s deployment of thousands of National Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, citing an estimated $120 million cost to taxpayers and a violation of long-standing civil-military limits.
A federal court permanently blocked the Trump Administration from using federalized California National Guard troops and U.S. Marines for law enforcement in Los Angeles, ruling that the deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act and infringed on state sovereignty.
The Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the Army in domestic policing, has been brought into the national spotlight by President Donald Trump’s repeated use of federal troops on American soil, raising questions about the boundaries between military and civilian authority and reigniting debate about the militarization of policing.
Our Revolution criticized President Trump’s decision to federalize the D.C. police and deploy National Guard troops as a power grab, while the White House defended it as necessary to protect public safety and federal operations.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom have filed a lawsuit against President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, seeking to block the federalization of the California National Guard and arguing that it violates the Tenth Amendment and exceeds federal authority under a little-used law governing state militias.
The Trump administration’s deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles without the state’s consent is a calculated, authoritarian escalation meant to provoke confrontation, suppress dissent, and consolidate executive power.