Trump Maintains Control Of California National Guard In L.A., Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court unanimously ruled late Thursday that President Trump can, for now, retain control of 4,000 California National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles amid anti-ICE protests in the city earlier this month. Trump hailed the decision as a “BIG WIN” and suggested it could set the stage for similar deployments across the country.
The three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — made up of two Trump appointees and one Biden appointee — found that protests in L.A. appeared to interfere with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Because of that, the judges concluded Trump’s June 7 deployment of the National Guard was justified, even though Trump did not consult California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) prior — marking the first such presidential action without state consent since the 1960s.
While the court upheld the troops’ deployment, it rejected the Trump administration’s broader claim that the president’s authority to deploy the Guard is beyond judicial review. The case is now back in the lower court, which had initially ruled Trump's actions unlawful after California sued to block the use of both National Guard troops and Marines to quell protests.
THE LATEST OUT OF LA
President JD Vance is meeting with Marines and visiting various federal command centers in L.A. on Friday. It comes a day after the Los Angeles Dodgers said it denied Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents access to the stadium parking lot Thursday morning, while ICE denied being there at all. The Department of Homeland Security said U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) vehicles were “briefly” present, but not for immigration enforcement.
An influx of CBP agents has arrived in the L.A. area, as the Trump administration doubles down on its goal of carrying out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history — aiming for around 3,000 arrests per day.
Hundreds of millions of Americans will experience dangerous, record-breaking heat through next week, as a heat dome builds over the central and eastern U.S. this weekend.
Temperatures are expected to be at least 15 degrees above averages starting Sunday. “Feels-like” temperatures will reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas, and humidity levels are expected to be far above what is normal for this time of year.
More than 250 daily temperature records could be broken.
BIGGER PICTURE
Heat is the leading weather-related cause of death around the 🌎. Some experts say this early-season heat is a troubling sign of what’s to come, as July and August are typically the hottest weeks of the year in most parts of the U.S.
A recent report from 60 of the world’s leading climate scientists warns the world could exceed its 1.5°C warming limit — which scientists say is the maximum global temperature increase to avoid the worst impacts of climate change — in just three years if there are not immediate, dramatic cuts to fossil fuel use.
The study’s authors note that the rate of emissions increases appears to be slowing down as clean technologies emerge.
