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The Department of Justice (DOJ) argues the courts should deny California’s request for a restraining order against the Trump administration over its decision to activate National Guard soldiers in Los Angeles after violent riots broke out over the weekend amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city.
Democratic leaders in California claim President Donald Trump abused his authority by invoking a provision of Title 10 that allows the president to mobilize the National Guard if an invasion or rebellion is underway.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday that Trump caused the bulk of the rioting because he unnecessarily deployed the military to protect ICE personnel and federal buildings. Newsom also claimed local and state police had the situation under control when Trump spurred chaos by issuing his National Guard proclamation.
Weighing in on the matter a day ahead of a scheduled hearing, the DOJ made its case that Trump had the authority to call on the National Guard’s response.
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“In a crass political stunt endangering American lives, the Governor of California seeks to use this Court to stop the President of the United States from exercising his lawful statutory and constitutional power to ensure that federal personnel and facilities are protected,” the DOJ said. “But, under the Constitution, the President is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, and the President is responsible for ensuring the protection of federal personnel and federal facilities.”
Since Friday, violent rioters who object to ICE’s enforcement of immigration laws have targeted and damaged federal buildings, injured federal personnel and impeded federal functions, the DOJ said.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and other state and local law enforcement officials have been unable to bring order to Los Angeles, the DOJ claimed.
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The agency also pointed to a comment made by LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, who said during a news conference that “things have gotten out of control” and warned that “somebody could easily be killed.”
“Evaluating the unrest and threats to the enforcement of federal law that local and state authorities were unable or unwilling to control, the President responded by using the authority vested in him by statute and the Constitution to federalize and deploy the California National Guard to protect federal personnel and property, quell the mobs, and restore order,” the DOJ wrote. “When the situation escalated further, the Secretary of Defense deployed a group of U.S. Marines to further assist.
“The President has every right under the Constitution and by statute to call forth the National Guard and Marines to quell lawless violence directed against enforcement of federal law,” the DOJ continued. “Yet instead of working to bring order to Los Angeles, California and its Governor filed a lawsuit in San Francisco seeking a court order limiting the federal government’s ability to protect its property and officials.”
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The DOJ said California’s request would “countermand” the president’s military directives, which would be “unprecedented.”
“On the merits, Plaintiffs’ claims are baseless,” the DOJ said.
Newsom also claimed Trump never consulted with him before activating the National Guard, though the statute does not have such a requirement, the DOJ said.
“It merely directs, as a procedural matter, that the President’s orders be conveyed “through” the Governor,” the DOJ wrote. “They were.”
Historically, courts did not interfere when former President Dwight Eisenhower deployed the military to protect school desegregation, nor did they interfere when former President Richard Nixon deployed the military to deliver the mail during a postal strike.
Ultimately, the DOJ recommended the court deny California and Newsom’s motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction.
A spokesperson for Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital, “This is incorrect and the federal administration damn well knows it.”
“President Trump continues to violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law by turning the military into his own personal police force against American citizens. As Governor Newsom said in his address to Californians and the American people yesterday, ‘Trump is pulling a military dragnet across LA, well beyond his stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals,’” the spokesperson said.
“President Trump and members of the Trump administration have repeatedly and publicly declared that a takeover of the National Guard would be illegal and that it requires approval by the Governor.”
Fox News’ Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
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