Federal judge appears skeptical of Trump's ongoing command of California National Guard troops

"At a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer suggested conditions in Los Angeles had changed since the initial deployment, and he questioned whether the administration could control state Guard troops "forever" under its interpretation of federal law. RELATED: Trump deploys 2,000 National Guard members after Los Angeles immigration protests "No crisis lasts forever," he said. "I think experience teaches us that crises come and crises go. That's the way it works.""

"He pressed an attorney for the government for any evidence that state authorities were either unable or unwilling to help keep federal personnel and property in the area safe and noted President Donald Trump had access to tens of thousands of active duty troops in California. California officials have asked Breyer to issue a preliminary injunction returning control of remaining California National Guard troops in Los Angeles to the state. Breyer did not immediately rule. He has previously found the administration's deployment of the California National Guard illegal."

""The National Guard is not the president's traveling private army to deploy where he wants, when he wants, for as long as he wants, for any reason he wants, or no reason at all," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said after the hearing. Trump initially called up more than 4,000 California National Guard troops in response to the protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws, but that number had dropped to several hundred by late October, with only a 100 or so troops remaining in the Los Angeles area."

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer questioned the Trump administration's authority and need to keep command of California National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles after violent June protests. He noted that conditions in Los Angeles had changed and questioned the administration's interpretation of federal law allowing control of state troops "forever." He sought evidence that state authorities were unable or unwilling to protect federal personnel and noted the president's access to active-duty forces in California. California requested a preliminary injunction to return remaining Guard troops to state control. The judge did not immediately rule; he previously found the deployment illegal. Troop levels fell from over 4,000 to about 100 in Los Angeles, and the administration also sought to use Guard members in Portland and Chicago.

Read at ABC7 San Francisco