California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) announced that he will deploy the California National Guard and California Volunteers for what his office described as a “humanitarian mission.”
The mission will support food banks as the ongoing government shutdown has delayed food benefits.
Discussing the purpose of the California National Guard’s deployment, Newsom’s office emphasized that the guardsmen “will not be acting as law enforcement.” Instead, the office noted, service members “regularly provide support to state civilian authorities, including for Governor-directed missions to support wildfire preparedness and response, tackle deadly drug trafficking, and surge medical capacity during the global COVID-19 pandemic.”
Blaming President Trump for the shutdown, Newsom claimed, “Trump’s failure isn’t abstract – it’s literally taking food out of people’s mouths. This is serious, this is urgent – and requires immediate action. Millions of Americans rely on food benefits to feed their families, and while Republicans in Washington drag their feet, California is stepping up once again to fill in the gaps.”
Newsom is further releasing upwards of $80 million in state funding.
“I’m expediting state funds for food banks and directing the California National Guard and California Volunteers to help distribute this food to families,” he said. “As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, California is working to ensure CalFresh recipients don’t go hungry while food prices are spiking under President Trump.”
The Democratic governor’s deployment of the National Guard stands in contrast with deployments made by the Trump administration. Newsom vowed to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration if the president were to send troops to San Francisco.
“The notion that the federal government can deploy troops into our cities with no justification grounded in reality, no oversight, no accountability, no respect for state sovereignty — it’s a direct assault on the rule of law,” Newsom said. “We’re drawing a line: California will always defend the Constitution, our people, and our values from authoritarian overreach.”
