Dhillon Shreds Newsom After Court Blocks California’s ‘No Secret Police Act’

In a move that surprises absolutely no one familiar with his performative antics, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom took to social media this week to take a victory lap for a race he arguably lost.

The battleground was a federal courtroom in Los Angeles, where Senior U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder — a Clinton appointee, no less — delivered a split decision on Monday regarding California’s blatant attempt to hamstring federal immigration enforcement. At the heart of the conflict were two pieces of legislation: the “No Secret Police Act,” which sought to ban ICE agents from wearing masks, and the “No Vigilantes Act,” which mandates visible identification.

Newsom, ever the master of the “alternative win,” crowed on X, “A federal court just upheld California’s law REQUIRING federal agents to identify themselves. California will keep standing up for civil rights and our democracy.”

A federal court just upheld California’s law REQUIRING federal agents to identify themselves.

California will keep standing up for civil rights and our democracy.

— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) February 10, 2026

But as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Harmeet Dhillon was quick to point out, the governor’s celebratory rhetoric was little more than a thin veil for a legal drubbing. Dhillon, cutting through the ego of the California governor, summarized the reality of the situation with brutal efficiency: “California made frivolous arguments and LOST in court.”

TL/DR: California made frivolous arguments and LOST in court. https://t.co/cLtZbWEtid

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) February 10, 2026

The most aggressive component of California’s anti-ICE agenda, the mask ban, was unceremoniously blocked. The Trump administration’s Department of Justice argued that stripping federal agents of their masks wasn’t about “transparency,” but about exposing federal officers to harassment, doxing, and physical violence.

Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the injunction, writing, “ANOTHER key court victory thanks to our outstanding @TheJusticeDept  attorneys. Following our arguments, a district court in California BLOCKED the enforcement of a law that would have banned federal agents from wearing masks to protect their identities.  These federal agents are harassed, doxxed, obstructed, and attacked on a regular basis just for doing their jobs. We have no tolerance for it.  We will continue fighting and winning in court for President Trump’s law-and-order agenda — and we will ALWAYS have the backs of our great federal law enforcement officers.”

ANOTHER key court victory thanks to our outstanding @TheJusticeDept attorneys.

Following our arguments, a district court in California BLOCKED the enforcement of a law that would have banned federal agents from wearing masks to protect their identities.

These federal agents are…

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) February 9, 2026

Judge Snyder’s ruling hinged on the fact that California’s law was a textbook case of federal discrimination. The state attempted to force federal agents to show their faces while conveniently exempting its own state law enforcement officers from the same standard. This violation of the Supremacy Clause meant the “No Secret Police Act” died on the vine because the state tried to play by a different set of rules than the ones it demanded for the feds.

Professor of Law Jonathan Turley noted, “As some of us previously noted, the California law requiring ICE agents to remove their masks has been found unconstitutional. Still, in my view, the discrimination rationale of Judge Christina Snyder (a Clinton appointee) is too narrow. Snyder left in place other provisions that the Administration could challenge. Moreover, the problem is not just that the state exempted its own officers, but that the state was dictating operational elements in federal law enforcement.”

As some of us previously noted, the California law requiring ICE agents to remove their masks has been found unconstitutional. https://t.co/tsPbncIybW Still, in my view, the discrimination rationale of Judge Christina Snyder (a Clinton appointee) is too narrow…

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) February 10, 2026

While Newsom tries to spin the leftover “ID badge” requirement as a monumental triumph, the reality remains: the federal government successfully stopped California from dictating the operational safety of federal agents. Newsom can brag all he wants, but as Dhillon and Bondi made clear, the law-and-order agenda just secured a major foothold in the Ninth Circuit’s backyard.