The case is one of many court challenges centered on Trump’s authority to deploy federalized National Guard troops to U.S. cities. 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.