The hearing comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request by the administration last week to temporarily pause a lower court order that directed Trump to return control of the soldiers to the governor who filed a lawsuit over the deployment.
The three-judge panel is set to hear oral arguments via video starting at 3 p.m. ET, and protests outside the downtown San Francisco court are expected.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco ruled last week that the Guard deployment was illegal and exceeded Trump’s statutory authority. It applied only to the National Guard troops and not the Marines, who were also deployed to LA.
President Donald Trump in about eight hours Monday went from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his visit to an international summit to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.
He returns to the capital at a moment of choosing in his presidency. Israel, with five days of missile strikes, has done considerable damage to Iran and believes it can now deal a permanent blow to Tehran’s nuclear program – particularly if it gets a little more help from Trump.