Dive Brief:
- U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut on Sunday temporarily blocked the federal government from deploying federalized members of the National Guard from anywhere in the country to Portland, Oregon, a day after she issued a temporary restraining order stopping the Trump administration from mobilizing Oregon National Guard troops.
- The Trump administration had responded to the Saturday order with plans to instead send National Guard troops from California — without the consent of Gov. Gavin Newsom — and Texas, with the support of Gov. Greg Abbott. Texas National Guard troops also reportedly are being deployed to Illinois; the state filed suit against the move today and sought a temporary restraining order.
- “DHS under President Trump is deploying a whole-of-government approach to restore law and order in America’s cities,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on social media Sunday. The Democratic Mayors Association said Trump is “declaring war on America’s cities.”
Dive Insight:
In her ruling to block the federalization of Oregon National Guard troops, Immergut, a Trump-appointed judge, said the case “involves the intersection of three of the most fundamental principles in our constitutional democracy:” the relationship between the federal government and the states, the relationship between the U.S. armed forces and domestic law enforcement and “the proper role of the judicial branch in ensuring that the executive branch complies with the laws and limitations imposed by the legislative branch.”
In issuing a temporary restraining order, the judge found that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their claims that Trump has exceeded his statutory authority to federalize the National Guard and violated the Tenth Amendment, which reserves for the states all rights and powers the Constitution does not give to the federal government.
Following the Saturday ruling and Trump’s decision to deploy 300 federalized California National Guard troops to Portland, California joined Oregon’s lawsuit requesting emergency relief to prevent the troops from being deployed, which led to Immergut’s temporary restraining order Sunday night.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller posted on social media Sunday that a district court judge “has no conceivable authority, whatsoever, to restrict the President and Commander-in-Chief from dispatching members of the US military to defend federal lives and property.”
In Chicago, DHS on Saturday announced it is deploying “special operations teams to restore law and order,” alleging that two people rammed federal agents with their vehicles and that “domestic terrorists gathered and began throwing smoke, gas, rocks, and bottles at DHS law enforcement.” It further alleged that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker refused to allow local police to secure the scene.
The Chicago Police Department said in a statement that it “will always respond to anyone who is being attacked or is under the threat of physical harm,” Fox News reported.
On Fox News Sunday, Noem called Chicago a “war zone” and took aim at Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, saying “there should be consequences for…leaders that stand up and knowingly lie about the situation on the ground.”
“They are the ones that are making it a war zone,” Illinois Gov, JB Pritzker said Sunday on CNN. “They fire tear gas and smoke grenades, and they make it look like a war zone.”
In a social media statement, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called the Texas National Guard deployment to his state “unlawful and unconstitutional.” The suit, which was joined by the City of Chicago, echoes the one in Portland, saying the president has exceeded his statutory authority to federalize the National Guard and violated the Posse Comitatus Act and the Tenth Amendment.
“The American people, regardless of where they reside, should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military, particularly for the reason that their city or state leadership has fallen out of a president’s favor,” said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in a statement about the suit. He added that “a federalized National Guard will only cause additional unrest and increase the mistrust of police.”
