A White House fact sheet explains that under the executive order, the name "Department of War" will serve as a "secondary title" for the Department of Defense. According to the fact sheet, the order will also authorize Defense Department officials to substitute the word "war" into their titles. For example, the Secretary of Defense could use the title Secretary of War.
Breyer, a Clinton appointee based in San Francisco, concluded that Trump's Los Angeles deploymentan operation overseen by Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethviolated a longstanding law meant to prevent domestic law enforcement by the military: the Posse Comitatus Act. His decision followed a four-day trial last month that included testimony from the Pentagon officials overseeing the troop deployment in Los Angeles. At this early stage of the proceedings, the Court must determine whether the President followed the congressionally mandated procedure for his actions.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration's deployment of U.S. military troops to Los Angeles during immigration raids earlier this year was illegal. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found the deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which limited the use of the military for law enforcement purposes. He stayed his ruling to give the administration a chance to appeal. "President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have stated their intention to call National Guard troops into service in other cities across the country ... thus creating a national police force with the President as its chief," Breyer wrote.
