Federal judges in Portland, Oregon, and Washington held hearings Friday in legal battles over the deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities as President Donald Trump seeks to expand his rare use of the military for domestic purposes.
In Portland, Justice Department lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut to suspend the second of her two orders restricting Trump’s attempts to send troops to the city. This week, an appeals court ruled that the president likely has the authority to do so.
In Washington, District Judge Jia Cobb heard a challenge to Trump’s deployment of about 2,500 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital. The local government argues that the Guard is improperly serving as a “federally administered police force.”
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Neither judge issued an immediate ruling, meaning the status quo remains intact in both cases: troops are barred from being sent to Portland and remain in Washington. In Oregon, Immergut said he will decide by Monday.
Trump has sought to send National Guard troops to cities run by Democratic officials, claiming they are needed to protect immigration enforcement operations, quell protests and fight crime, despite objections from local elected leaders.
Troops are in Los Angeles and Washington, and Trump has announced plans to send them to other cities, including Chicago.
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States and cities have sued to block the deployments, arguing they are based on exaggerated descriptions of crime and chaos. The courts have not yet issued final rulings on the legality of the actions.
Judge blocks Portland National Guard
On October 4, Immergut prevented Trump from taking control of the Oregon National Guard and sending troops to Portland. The next day, after Trump tried to circumvent that order by sending troops from California and Texas to Portland, the judge banned the deployment of troops from any state, including Oregon.
Both orders were preliminary and based on the judge’s initial assessment that there was no evidence that the protests in Portland seriously interfered with the application of federal law. Immergut has scheduled a trial for next week on the merits of sending troops.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this week suspended Immergut’s Oct. 4 order while the court battle unfolds. But troops have not yet been sent to Portland because the Oct. 5 order remains in effect.
Justice Department attorney Jacob Roth asked Immergut to suspend his Oct. 5 order in light of the 9th Circuit panel’s decision, despite the state’s request for a larger panel of appellate judges to review the case.
“The prospect of further review does not deprive them of their weight in the meantime,” Roth said.
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If Immergut, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, agrees, the government could move forward with the implementation.
State and local officials say Trump’s action violates several federal laws governing the use of military force, as well as states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Oregon argued that the three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit, which included two Trump-appointed judges, got it wrong. State’s attorney Scott Kennedy urged Immergut to maintain the status quo ahead of next week’s trial.
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“There is at least one good reason to pause and wait for the finish,” Kennedy said.
Troops mobilized in Washington
The case before Cobb in Washington depends, in part, on how to interpret the Home Rule Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1973, which gave Washington residents more control over city affairs and the ability to elect a mayor and city council.
The president has more power over law enforcement in Washington than in the rest of the country, due to the city’s unique status as a federal district that is not part of any state. Trump said he was sending the Guard to fight crime, although city police say crime was falling before the deployment.
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A lawyer for the city said at Friday’s hearing that the deployment has made residents afraid to live their daily lives or report crimes to police so as not to encounter armed troops.
A Justice Department lawyer called the city’s lawsuit a “political maneuver” and called the District’s claims about declining public trust speculative.
