Federalism

Ninth Circuit Forces Trump to Return California National Guard Control to State

| Importance: 8/10

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Trump administration must return control of the California National Guard to the state. President Trump announced that day he would withdraw National Guard troops from Los Angeles, Portland, and Chicago. The federal government backed down after …

Donald Trump Gavin Newsom Charles Breyer national-guard federalism judicial-intervention posse-comitatus executive-overreach
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Supreme Court Blocks Trump National Guard Deployment to Chicago, Ruling 'Regular Forces' Means Military

| Importance: 10/10

In a 6-3 decision representing the Trump administration’s first major Supreme Court defeat in months, the Court blocks President Trump’s attempt to deploy federalized National Guard troops to Chicago without gubernatorial consent. The ruling turns on a critical statutory interpretation: …

U.S. Supreme Court Donald Trump John Roberts Brett Kavanaugh Amy Coney Barrett +8 more supreme-court national-guard insurrection-act executive-power constitutional-limits +3 more
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Supreme Court to Review Trump's Federalization of National Guard in Chicago, Nationwide Implications

| Importance: 10/10

On October 29, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court took the rare step of requesting additional briefing in a high-profile emergency case challenging President Trump’s federalization of the National Guard in Chicago for immigration enforcement, signaling the Court is grappling with fundamental …

April Perry Donald Trump JB Pritzker Supreme Court chicago constitutional-crisis federalism federalization militarization +5 more
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Federal judge says Los Angeles Guard/Marine deployment likely unlawful

| Importance: 6/10

A federal district judge in Northern California ruled on June 12, 2025, that the Trump administration’s federalization of California National Guard and deployment of 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles likely violated the Posse Comitatus Act and principles of federalism. The judge found the …

U.S. District Court State of California Governor Gavin Newsom Department of Defense 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines +2 more civil-military courts emergency-powers posse-comitatus federalism +2 more
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Federal Appeals Court Establishes Precedent on National Guard Federalization

| Importance: 9/10

In a landmark ruling on April 22, 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals established unprecedented guidelines for presidential authority to federalize state National Guard troops. The decision significantly expanded executive power by upholding the president’s ability to deploy 4,000 …

Federal Appeals Court Gavin Newsom Department of Defense Charles Breyer Donald Trump +1 more national-guard federalism military-authority constitutional-crisis executive-power +1 more
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Supreme Court Makes ACA Medicaid Expansion Optional, Enabling State Obstruction

| Importance: 9/10

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius that the Affordable Care Act’s mandatory Medicaid expansion was unconstitutionally coercive, making it optional for states. While Chief Justice John Roberts upheld the individual mandate as a valid …

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts National Federation of Independent Business Republican Governors Republican State Attorneys General healthcare aca-sabotage supreme-court medicaid partisan-obstruction +2 more
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ALEC Establishes Cabinet Task Forces and Partners with Reagan's Task Force on Federalism

| Importance: 9/10

In 1981, ALEC formalized its systematic corporate legislative capture mechanism by establishing seven Cabinet Task Forces that worked directly with the Reagan administration on policy development. President Ronald Reagan formed a national Task Force on Federalism headed by U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt …

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Ronald Reagan Paul Laxalt Tom Stivers John Kasich corporate-capture legislative-capture alec reagan-administration state-level-politics +2 more
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