Trump Wins Against Liberal Ninth Circuit Panel in ICE Standoff

Ninth Circuit Rules Trump Administration 'Will Certainly Succeed' Against California's Mask-Ban Law, Dealing Blow to Gavin Newsom

California Gov. Newsom signs first-in-state law requiring companies to disclose slavery-era ties.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring major companies to search through historical records and publicly disclose some of their slavery-era dealings, which supporters saw as a step toward accountability.

The Trump administration won a victory in a liberal appeals court on Wednesday, which temporarily blocked part of a California law that required plainclothes federal law enforcement officers to display badges and identification while conducting operations.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Trump administration will "certainly succeed" in its lawsuit against California, finding that the No Vigilantes law's identification requirement violates the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, which says federal law takes precedence where it conflicts with state law.

"Section 10 expressly overrides the federal government's power to determine whether, how, and when to publicly identify its officers," the panel wrote.

The initial ruling comes from a federal appeals court that has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration over some of its signature immigration policies, including blocking efforts to block federal aid from sanctuary cities in 2018, limiting efforts to tighten asylum eligibility that same year and refusing to reinstate Trump's travel bans to pre-settlement countries.

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The ruling deals a major blow to Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is widely seen as a 2028 presidential candidate. Newsom has positioned himself as one of the main opponents of Trump's immigration agenda, signing a series of laws aimed at protecting immigrant communities, limiting federal immigration enforcement operations and increasing oversight of federal agents in the state.

The Trump administration sued California in November 2025 over provisions of the No Vigilantes and No Undercover Police Act, which restricts law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings. Judge Christina Snyder, a Clinton appointee, initially blocked the law's mask restrictions on undercover police for federal officers, but stopped short of blocking the No Vigilantes Act into law.

The Trump administration appealed Snyder's decision on the identification requirement, and the Ninth Circuit temporarily blocked its enforcement in February before issuing an appeal in April.

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California argued that its identification requirements did not constitute unconstitutional regulation of the federal government because a state law crossed the line only when it "imposes substantial burdens on federal operations."

But the appeals court ruled that states never had the authority to directly regulate federal officials.

"The regulatory burden on federal operations, whether substantial or insignificant, is irrelevant."

The ruling by the liberal appeals court drew praise from Trump administration officials, including Justice Department Civil Division Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumat.

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“The Ninth Circuit agrees that California cannot regulate the enforcement of federal law,” Shumat wrote in X .

"Today, the Ninth Circuit reaffirms what common sense makes clear: California cannot regulate how federal law enforcement officers carry out their duties as authorized by Congress," Assistant Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. wrote on X Day. Immigration laws of the country.

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The Trump-backed Republican candidate who unseated the incumbent has warned of "endless war" with Iran.