Judge Breyer Issues Injunction Barring

The Steady State

Judge Breyer Issues Injunction Barring Violations of Posse Comitatus Act – Steady State Files Amicus Curiae Brief

Washington, D.C. — September 2, 2025 — Last month, The Steady State filed an Amicus Curiae brief in Newsom v. Trump, a case involving the recent deployment of National Guard troops in California. Earlier today, Judge Breyer, who is presiding over the case, issued a preliminary injunction, finding that Trump and Hegseth had violated the law, accompanied by a detailed 52-page opinion explaining his ruling.

In the brief, The Steady State wrote:

Our members have studied, reported on, and confronted the rise of authoritarian regimes across the globe—regimes that frequently misuse military, paramilitary, and intelligence elements to violate the law, suppress lawful dissent, and consolidate power in a political leader. The members of the Steady State have spent most of their careers focused on such threats abroad, dealing with autocracies, dictatorships, and tyrannies, as well as regions that have experienced democratic backsliding into authoritarianism. Members of the Steady State have served in or worked with the very same military and security elements being deployed in California, and elsewhere in the United States, by the Government…. This gives them a unique perspective that should prove useful to the Court and is relevant to the disposition of this case. Amicus, in its submission, details for the Court how perilous it can be to democracy when these institutions are used domestically and outside the bounds of the law and for political purposes.

Our brief amplified and reinforced the warning of Justice Robert Jackson in the landmark Steel Seizure case. Jackson cautioned against the exercise of unchecked presidential authority in the face of Congressional legislation, seeing it as a dangerous step toward authoritarianism. Like our members, Jackson spoke from deep experience and authority: before joining the Supreme Court, he served as Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. A warning from the man who had prosecuted Hermann Göring and witnessed Nazi Germany firsthand carries immense weight—and our amicus brief drove that point home. Judge Breyer’s opinion draws heavily from and quotes extensively from Justice Jackson’s concurrence.

Judge Breyer’s ruling is more than a decision in a single case—it is a warning about the limits of presidential power. It directly confronts the notion, voiced by a President, that he can act without legal constraint: “I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the President of the United States. If I think our country is in danger, and it is in danger in these cities, I can do it.” (Opinion, p. 51). By issuing a preliminary injunction, Judge Breyer makes clear that no one, not even the President, is above the law. This opinion will resonate far beyond California, serving as a crucial check against the misuse of military and security forces for political ends.

Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 300 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.