CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said Friday that a recent appeals court ruling makes clear that judges cannot “simply second-guess” President Donald Trump’s decisions solely because they disagree with them.
In a unanimous decision on Thursday, a federal appeals court upheld Trump’s continued deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, stating he “lawfully exercised his statutory authority.” Speaking on The Situation Room, Honig described the ruling as a “big win” for Trump and the executive branch’s authority.
“It’s huge, Pam, because it goes to presidential powers and the extent of them,” Honig told host Pamela Brown. “So the core ruling here from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is yes, the federal courts have some role in reviewing the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard; however, the courts cannot just second-guess the president and overturn him if they disagree.”
“The court of appeals says ‘we, all of us, in the federal judiciary, we have to give very broad deference to the president, so unless his decision is patently absurd or based on bad faith, then we have to step back and let the president exercise this power. So it’s a big win for President Trump,” Honig continued.