California Sues Trump and Hegseth Challenging National Guard Federalization Order
On June 9, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom sued President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in federal court, challenging the federal government's orders federalizing the California National Guard for 60 days under 10 U.S.C. § 12406. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, Case No. 3:25-cv-04870, before Judge Charles Breyer; the troops at issue were serving in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California.
The Attorney General's office said that in the early hours of June 8, the Department of Defense, at the President's direction, redirected hundreds of National Guard troops from San Diego to Los Angeles, without authorization from the Governor and against the wishes of local law enforcement, with a total of 2,000 troops to be drawn from across the state. The complaint also states that on June 9 the Defense Department ordered an additional 2,000 California National Guard members into federal service.
The suit followed immigration raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at multiple locations in downtown Los Angeles on June 6 and 7, which were met with protests. On the evening of June 7, President Trump issued a memorandum titled "Department of Defense Security for the Protection of Department of Homeland Security Functions," authorizing the Defense Department to call up 2,000 California National Guard personnel into federal service for 60 days. California said it was the first time since 1965 that a president had activated a state's National Guard without a request from that state's governor; Newsom had written to Hegseth asking the Department to rescind the deployment and return the troops to his command.
California asked the court to hold the federalization orders unlawful and set them aside, arguing that the action exceeds the federal government's authority under the statute and violates the Tenth Amendment. The state argued that § 12406 requires that the Governor be given the opportunity to consent to federalization, which Newsom was not given before the deployment; that the order infringes on the Governor's role as Commander-in-Chief of the California National Guard; and that it deprives California of resources and critical responders in a state emergency.
"There is no invasion. There is no rebellion. The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends," Bonta said, calling the federalization an abuse of the President's authority under the law. Newsom said Trump was failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority in "a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia," and that California would not let it stand.
(Source: California Attorney General's Office)
Source: California Attorney General's Office
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2025年6月10日，被联邦接管的加州国民警卫队在 Los Angeles 与抗议者对峙（资料图）。美国北方司令部，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Federalized California National Guard troops face protesters in Los Angeles on June 10, 2025 (file photo). U.S. Northern Command, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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