Trump’s Ongoing Battle with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
President Trump has long been at odds with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a court that has consistently put a damper on his agenda. Despite appointing his own judges to the bench, Trump continues to clash with the court, particularly over his use of the National Guard to police American streets. In a recent outburst, Trump lashed out at U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who temporarily blocked the deployment of federalized troops, saying “I appointed the judge and he goes like that — I wasn’t served well.”
Trump’s criticism of judges who rule against him is nothing new. He has previously called them “monsters,” “deranged,” and “radical.” However, his recent attack on Judge Immergut, one of his own appointees, marks a shift in his willingness to go after his own picks. Experts say this could be a sign of things to come as his appointees to the appellate bench test his ambition to put boots on the ground in major cities across the U.S.
The 9th Circuit’s Role in the Troop Debate
The 9th Circuit has handed the administration an early victory in the troop fight, finding that courts must give “a great level of deference” to the president to decide whether facts on the ground warrant military intervention. However, this ruling is set to be reviewed by a larger appellate panel and could ultimately be reversed. The circuit is also reviewing a September decision barring federalized troops in California from aiding in civilian law enforcement, as well as Immergut’s temporary restraining order blocking the deployment.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has rebuked the National Governors Assn. for remaining silent on the issue, accusing them of abandoning their bipartisan values by failing to defend the constitutional authority of governors. Newsom cited Trump’s decision to send Texas National Guard troops to Illinois and Oregon over those states’ objections as a dangerous precedent, calling on fellow governors to “denounce this infringement of state sovereignty.”
Expert Analysis
According to Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University and a constitutional scholar at the Cato Institute, “The fact that a pretty conservative judge ruled the way she did is an indication that some conservative judges would rule similarly.” Somin notes that the 9th Circuit’s June decision has served as a guidepost for states seeking to limit what Oregon called a “nationwide campaign to assimilate the military into civilian law enforcement.”
John C. Dehn, a professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, agrees that the appellate court’s decision will be crucial in determining the limits of presidential power. “How much deference is owed to the president? That’s something we’re all talking about,” Dehn said. The administration’s reliance on an esoteric subsection of the U.S. Code for the authority to send soldiers on immigration raids and to control crowds of protesters has been characterized as semantic and divorced from its legal context.
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