What Powers Do US States Have to Resist Trump?

Republicans have long cast themselves as the defenders of state power and opponents of a strong central government — but don’t always act that way when it’s a Republican president trying to bend states to his will. Now, with Donald Trump testing the limits of presidential reach, Democratic governors such as California’s Gavin Newsom are the ones asserting states’ authority.

On June 7, Trump called up California National Guard troops to quell protests against his immigration crackdown in Los Angeles — over the objections of Newsom. It was the first time a president has deployed troops in any state without the permission of the governor since the civil rights movement in the 1960s. In a statement, all of the country’s Democratic governors called the move an “alarming abuse of power,” and on June 9, Newsom sued the Trump administration.