Federal judge blocks Trump from sending any National Guard to Portland

According to Fox News, US District Judge Karin Immergut issued an emergency temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the deployment of 300 California National Guard members to Oregon. Her order further prevents the use of troops from any other state or Washington, DC, within Oregon’s borders.

Immergut’s ruling found that the Trump administration’s planned action violated both 10 U.S.C. §12406 and the Tenth Amendment, which reserve certain powers to the states. The decision is the latest legal setback for the administration as it pushes to use National Guard troops to respond to urban unrest in Democrat-led cities.

Earlier in the day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging the planned deployment of California’s National Guard troops to Oregon. “We’re suing Donald Trump. His deployment of the California National Guard to Oregon isn’t about crime. It’s about power. He is using our military as political pawns to build up his own ego,” Newsom wrote in a post on X. “It’s appalling. It’s un-American. And it must stop.”

The lawsuit followed Trump’s announcement that 300 California National Guard personnel were being sent into Oregon, just one day after a federal judge had blocked his earlier attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard for deployment to Portland.

“In response to a federal court order that blocked his attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard, President Trump is deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Oregon. They are on their way there now,” Newsom said in a statement. He added, “This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power. The Trump administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words, ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the president himself, as political opponents.”

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield also weighed in, accusing Trump of being “hellbent on deploying the military” to US cities “absent facts or authority to do so.”

“It is up to us and the courts to hold him accountable. That’s what we intend to do,” Rayfield wrote on X.

The White House pushed back, dismissing the lawsuit as “political theater.” Spokesperson Abigail Jackson said Trump “exercised his lawful authority” and accused Newsom of siding with “violent criminals destroying Portland.”

Fox News reported that during the emergency hearing, Judge Immergut pressed Department of Justice attorney Eric Hamilton over the administration’s continued efforts to move troops despite her prior order. “How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention of the TRO that I issued yesterday?” Immergut asked. “You’re an officer of the court. Aren’t defendants circumventing my order?”

Hamilton denied wrongdoing, arguing that the administration retained authority to act under federal law. Immergut rejected that defense.

“You have to have a colorable claim that Oregon conditions warrant deploying the National Guard, you don’t,” she replied.

Oregon state attorney Scott Kennedy likened the DOJ’s arguments to “a game of rhetorical Whac-A-Mole,” noting reports that Trump may also be considering sending Texas National Guard troops to Chicago.

The Justice Department requested both a stay and an administrative delay, but Immergut denied both, emphasizing that the matter constituted an “emergency” and that no new facts justified altering her prior ruling.

Newsom quickly celebrated the decision on social media: “BREAKING: We just won in court, again,” Newsom posted on X. “A federal judge BLOCKED Donald Trump’s unlawful attempt to DEPLOY 300 OF OUR NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO PORTLAND. The court granted our request for a Temporary Restraining Order — HALTING ANY FEDERALIZATION, RELOCATION, OR DEPLOYMENT of ANY GUARD MEMBERS TO OREGON FROM ANY STATE. Trump’s abuse of power won’t stand.”

The Justice Department has indicated that it intends to appeal Immergut’s ruling.