SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated federal law by deploying California National Guard troops to Los Angeles during a summer standoff with Gov. Gavin Newsom over immigration raids.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer concluded that the Trump administration’s actions in June breached the Posse Comitatus Act, an 1878 statute that generally bars use of the military to enforce domestic laws.

In a 52-page decision, Breyer found that federalized troops were used in direct support of immigration raids, including setting up perimeters and assisting with apprehensions — crossing a legal line intended to preserve the civilian nature of law enforcement.

Trump and Hegseth deployed roughly 4,000 California National Guard members to the Los Angeles area following protests in response to immigration enforcement operations. Some of the protests were violent.

“The evidence at trial established that Defendants systematically used armed soldiers (whose identity was often obscured by protective armor) and military vehicles to set up protective perimeters and traffic blockades, engage in crowd control, and otherwise demonstrate a military presence in and around Los Angeles. In short, Defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act,” Breyer wrote in his decision, which is expected to be appealed to the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Breyer’s ruling followed a multi-day bench trial in which attorneys for California argued that the troops’ roles exceeded protective support and ventured into active law enforcement.

Breyer did not order the withdrawal of troops still in California but directed the administration to cease any use of military personnel for civilian law enforcement tasks moving forward.

The ruling represents a rare rebuke of presidential authority in the context of domestic military deployment and may shape how future administrations interpret the Posse Comitatus Act.

Breyer, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, ruled in June that Trump had exceeded his authority by not ordering the California National Guard deployment through Newsom . Breyer called on Trump to return control of the troops to the governor.

An appeals court, also in June, overturned the judge’s ruling, saying that Newsom did not have power to veto Trump’s order and that the president would likely win on those grounds “because the alleged procedural violation has no effect on President Trump’s authority.”

When Breyer issued that first decision it was less than a week after troops were called to the Los Angeles area and he did not rule on if the federal government was violating the Posse Comitatus Act. That set the stage for the most recent trial.

About 300 National Guard soldiers have remained in the Los Angeles area since Aug. 1.Newsom has called on Trump to allow them to leave.

Neither Newsom’s office nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.

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