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Judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Portland, handing a major victory to the president in his ongoing federalization fight — but one that might not have much staying power.
The case itself comes amid a fast-moving backdrop of similar court fights playing out across the country, including one challenge that has already been appealed to the Supreme Court.
At issue in Oregon is a 9th Circuit ruling that affirmed Trump’s authority to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, despite the objections of local and state leaders.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Monday to lift a lower court order blocking Trump from federalizing the National Guard, finding he likely had the authority as president to order the deployments, even if reports of protester violence were overstated.
9TH CIRCUIT COURT RULES ON TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN PORTLAND
Still, the appeals court ruling has limited practical implications, at least for now.
Writing for the majority of the 9th Circuit, Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade stressed on Monday that they could not evaluate a second emergency order that was issued by the lower court judge late last week, after Trump attempted to deploy federalized National Guard troops from California to the City of Portland.
The second order from U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut clarified that Trump can not deploy any federalized troops to Portland.
The past 48 hours have seen a flurry of action from lawyers for the Justice Department and the states of Oregon and California, as the Trump administration asked Immergut to dissolve her second temporary restraining order, in light of the appeals court ruling.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Oregon and California urged the judge to keep the second emergency order in place until the 9th Circuit can vote on their request to evaluate the case en banc, or in with the full appellate court bench.
‘UNTETHERED FROM REALITY’: LAWYERS FOR TRUMP, OREGON, SPAR OVER NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN COURT CLASH
While Trump, in his first term as president, appointed 10 judges to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the bench still retains a slight majority of Democrat-appointed judges, by a margin of 16 to 13.
“The fight is not over,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek vowed to reporters on Monday. “Until the district court acts on the second TRO, National Guard members from Oregon, or any other state cannot deploy,” she added.
Both parties are expected to have more clarity shortly.
As of this writing, the lower court judge has ordered lawyers for the state of Oregon and the Justice Department to appear Friday morning for a status hearing to evaluate the Trump administration’s request for her to dissolve or stay the second emergency order.
Both parties were also ordered to come to Friday’s hearing prepared to discuss the pending en banc vote before the 9th Circuit, which will hold a vote on whether to review the case.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT TO PORTLAND AMID CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE
In order to review the case, 15 of the 29 judges on the 9th Circuit must agree to take it up, and further action is expected before Friday.
Otherwise, relief could come in the form of Supreme Court action. The Trump administration appealed to the high court a lower court’s injunction that blocked its deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago.
In the interim, court challenges continue to play out in the handful of other Democratic-led cities where Trump has launched his federalization effort. A federal judge in Washington, D.C. on Friday will hold a hearing to evaluate the status of Trump’s deployment of some 2,500 National Guard troops in the nation’s capital, after the city’s attorney general suggested in a court filing that the effort could stretch through summer 2026.
The Trump administration also re-filed its motion to stay the district court’s injunction centered on the Chicago deployments to the 7th Circuit of Appeals, citing their victory in the 9th Circuit.
Trump has sought to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities despite stated opposition from local and state leaders. Senior administration officials have argued that the deployment is a necessary step to crack down on what they say is an uptick in violent crime and protect against threats from protesters, including anti-ICE demonstrations in many downtown areas.
Democrats have countered that Trump’s descriptions are hyperbolic and inaccurate, and are merely a legal pretext for Trump to try to “federalize” Democratic-led cities. They’ve used news conferences to highlight declines in violent crime, and have argued in court that the effort to deploy federal troops exceeds Trump’s authority as commander-in-chief.
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