An appeals court on Monday temporarily stayed a lower court ruling that had prevented President Donald Trump from deploying 200 Oregon National Guard troops, but the troops remain barred from action for the moment. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut had issued two temporary restraining orders (TROs) earlier this month: the first blocked Trump from calling up the troops for deployment to Portland, and the second prohibited any National Guard deployment to Oregon after Trump attempted to bypass the first order by sending California troops instead.
The Justice Department appealed the initial TRO, and a 2-1 panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the administration, ruling that Trump was likely to succeed in claiming authority to federalize the troops under the justification that he could not enforce the laws without them. However, Immergut’s second TRO remains in effect, preventing immediate troop deployment. The administration quickly asked Immergut to dissolve the second order, arguing that the legal reasoning behind both orders is the same and that courts should not second-guess the president’s determination to deploy troops.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield criticized the ruling, warning it could give the president near-unilateral authority to place state soldiers on the streets with minimal justification. “We are on a dangerous path in America,” he said, indicating plans to seek review by a broader panel of the appeals court. Legal challenges have plagued Trump’s efforts to deploy National Guard troops in Democratic-led cities. In California, a judge ruled his deployment of troops to Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, and the administration has requested Supreme Court approval to send troops to Chicago.
The protests in Portland, largely small nightly gatherings outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, have occasionally drawn larger crowds, including counter-protesters and live-streamers, with federal agents using tear gas in response. The administration justified the deployment, arguing that troops are needed to protect federal property and that diverting DHS personnel limits law enforcement elsewhere.
Judge Immergut had previously rejected the administration’s arguments, stating Trump’s portrayal of Portland as war-torn was “simply untethered to the facts.” Appeals court majority judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade, both Trump appointees, argued the president’s decisions warranted deference, even if he exaggerated the situation on social media. Judge Susan Graber, appointed by President Clinton, dissented, warning that small, non-disruptive protests could not meet the standard for federal troop deployment and urged the majority to vacate their order before illegal deployment could occur.
