Federal judges in Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., held key hearings Friday over President Donald Trump’s controversial deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities — a move critics say oversteps presidential authority and undermines state rights.
In Portland, Justice Department lawyers urged U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut to lift her order blocking Trump from sending troops to the city. The request follows a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision suggesting the president likely has the authority to deploy the National Guard. Immergut, however, has yet to issue a ruling and plans to decide by Monday.
Immergut previously blocked Trump from seizing control of Oregon’s National Guard on October 4, later expanding her order to ban troop deployments from any state. Her rulings, based on limited evidence that protests in Portland disrupted federal law enforcement, remain in effect. The 9th Circuit paused her first order, but the second still prevents deployment.
The Justice Department, represented by attorney Jacob Roth, argued that the appeals court’s ruling justifies lifting the restrictions. Oregon’s attorney, Scott Kennedy, countered that the state’s rights under the 10th Amendment are being violated, urging the judge to preserve the status quo until a full trial next week.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb heard a similar case challenging Trump’s deployment of 2,500 National Guard troops. The D.C. government contends the move breaches the Home Rule Act, effectively turning the Guard into a “federally run police force.” City lawyers said the deployment has instilled fear among residents, while federal lawyers dismissed the claims as politically motivated.
Trump has already stationed troops in Los Angeles and D.C., with plans to expand to cities like Chicago. Multiple lawsuits argue that these deployments, justified by exaggerated crime claims, violate federal law.