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Carrie A Lee

@carriealee.bsky.social

4.3K followers 530 following 260 posts

Former public servant: Democracy, Civ-Mil, NatSec & Strategy. Senior Fellow ‪@gmfus.bsky.social‬‬, Visiting Scholar @perryworldhouse.bsky.social‬, Member ‪@cfr.org‬, Truman Project. Running enthusiast.

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · Jun 5

Friends, followers, and colleagues: some professional news, as they say.

After four wonderful years with the US Army War College, I resigned my position effective May 2, 2025. 1/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 5h

Am honored to contribute to this special issue of Georgetown Law's Journal of Nat'l Security Law and Policy. I argue that Trump's efforts go beyond politicization and into personalization--to the extreme detriment of natsec and civ-mil relations.

nationalsecurity.law.georgetown.edu/journal/2025...

Trump’s Second Term: The Personalization of the Military and Implications for National Security - Georgetown Law - Center on National Security

By Carrie A. Lee

nationalsecurity.law.georgetown.edu

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 1d

Today's @radiofreetom.bsky.social article for the Atlantic is a must-read.

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Carrie A Lee

Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 2d

On the left:

Sept 2: Judge Breyer opinion (in CA case) showing DoD's own instructions of actions that violate Posse Comitatus Act (eg "crowd control").

On the right:

Sept 26: DHS request to DoD for military forces in Chicago "in direct support of ... access control, and crowd control."

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Reposted by Carrie A Lee

Lindsay P Cohn @lindsaypcohn.bsky.social · 2d

Folks we are watching the adjudication of some of the most important constitutional issues of federalism, executive discretion, and judicial review since the 19th c

www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Judge issues new broader order barring any National Guard from relocating to Oregon

Judge asked federal government lawyer: 'Do you believe this is an appropriate way to deal with a judge’s order that you disagree with?'

www.oregonlive.com

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Reposted by Carrie A Lee

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 2d

NEW: Judge Immergut issues her written second TRO, blocking the Trump admin from deploying ANY federalized National Guard troops from ANY state in Oregon. (Full hearing thread below) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Based on this Court's prior Opinion and Order Granting Plaintiffs' First Motion for
Temporary Restraining Order, ECF 56; the hearing on Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Temporary Restraining Order; and the newly submitted declarations, ECF 60, 63, 65, this Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, ECF 59, and ORDERS as follows:
1. Defendants are temporarily enjoined from deploying federalized members of the
National Guard in Oregon.

2. This Second Temporary Restraining Order expires by its own terms in fourteen
days on October 19, 2025.
3. Plaintiffs are ORDERED to post a nominal bond of $100 within 48 hours. The
bond shall be filed in the Clerk's Office and be deposited into the registry of the Court.
4. Defendants' Request to Stay or Administratively Stay this Second Temporary
Restraining Order, which was raised in the hearing on Plaintiffs' Second Motion for Temporary
Restraining Order, is DENIED.
The Court Clerk will contact the parties to schedule a telephone hearing on
October 17, 2025, to address whether this Second Temporary Restraining Order should be extended for another 14 days.
6. Any motion for a Preliminary Injunction shall be filed no later than October 17,
2025; Defendants' opposition shall be due no later than October 23, 2025, and Plaintiffs' reply shall be due on October 27, 2025.
A combined hearing on the preliminary injunction motion and a trial on the merits
under Rule 65(a)(2) is set for October 29, 2025, before the Honorable Judge Karin J. Immergut, in Courtroom 13A, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
IT IS SO ORDERED
DATED this 5th day of October.
/s/ Karin J. Immergut
Karin J. Immergut
United States District Judge

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

Senior mil officers are going to have to go to school *fast* on how to navigate orders in the midst of a constitutional crisis, and the stakes are high. Choose wrong, and you either compromise the non-partisan military or use the coercive power of the state to undermine democracy. 12/12

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

But what we are seeing right now is the biggest tension in constitutional obligations that the modern professional American Army has ever faced. Obey civ orders from legitimately elected POTUS vs no auth or appropriations from Congress vs a court restraining POTUS orders is a hell of a fix. 11/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

Doesn’t mean they aren’t patriots or don’t believe in the constitution, but the idea that civ orders can undermine other civilian authorities in the constitution just hasn’t been seriously contemplated before now. I don’t blame them; most CMR scholars don’t focus on it either! 10/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

Most senior leaders in my experience have not given a ton of thought to their oath beyond a commitment to civilian control—which they take to mean as following orders. It’s a fairly shallow understanding/treatment of the subject. 9/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

Which is a reminder that respecting court orders is part of officers’ oath to the constitution. They swore an oath to a form of government that includes checks and balances on executive power, including Article III (the judiciary). Now would be a good time to refresh/reaffirm that. 8/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

4. From a civ-mil perspective, we should be watching for any additional orders in next 14 days to deploy NG to Portland that would be unlawful per the TRO. May be helpful if the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (who sits on JCS) made some kind of statement about respecting the courts. 7/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

It’s not like there aren’t going to be more protests or another flare up w some violence, especially as ICE’s budget increases and they continue to instigate confrontations with the community; so why now? Why the urgency? 6/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

3. The insistence on federalizing the NG to support ICE feels utterly performative, and is an obvious abuse of power esp in the Portland case. I’m baffled by the timing of it all, and why they are pushing the envelope so fast without the right pretext. 5/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

2. This will end up in front of the 9th circuit as they are also deciding the Newsom v Trump case re: the LA deployment from June. Hard to see how this turns out well for the admin; 9th circuit was initially inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt but that’s probably lost at this point. 4/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

This means that while the initial deployment order was not patently unlawful (hence the court case), any future orders to deploy ANY NG to Portland would be per the written order. Senior NG leaders should think very hard if they are told to do it anyway, as some admin officials are hinting. 3/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

1. This is a temporary restraining order (TRO), which means that the judge hasn’t ruled the deployment absolutely prohibited. The bar for a TRO is: a) whether the deployment would do irreparable harm before the court can rule; and 2) whether OR was likely to win. Judge said yes, so TRO. 2/

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 2d

New ruling in Portland NG case, reaffirming the previous restraining order and restricting USG from deploying NG troops to Portland. And few notes on this based on some questions I’ve seen: 1/

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Reposted by Carrie A Lee

German Marshall Fund @gmfus.bsky.social · 6d

🌊 "...while [this week's all-general meeting] did not spark an immediate crisis, it was a stark reminder that there are rough seas ahead for both the senior US officer corps and US partners across the Atlantic."

Read an analysis of this week's US military developments by Carrie Lee:

Rough Seas Ahead

When the Washington Post first reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had recalled hundreds of the United States’ most senior military commanders to Washington for an in-person…

www.gmfus.org

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 6d

My analysis of Tuesday's mtg:

"...It underscored the admin’s intention to shift its focus... toward homeland issues, and provided the clearest indication yet that US partners and allies will have to contend with a military increasingly operating outside of int'l law."

www.gmfus.org/news/rough-s...

Rough Seas Ahead

www.gmfus.org

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · 28d

Am trying to write about the Dept of War change without using a gender lens (audience) and finding it basically impossible. Send words.

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Reposted by Carrie A Lee

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Sep 5

News Analysis: By ordering the U.S. military to summarily kill a group of people aboard what he said was a drug-smuggling boat, President Trump used the military in a way that had no clear legal precedent or basis, according to specialists in the laws of war and executive power.

Trump Claims the Power to Summarily Kill Suspected Drug Smugglers

The move to treat criminals as if they were wartime combatants escalated an administration pattern of using military force for law enforcement tasks at home and abroad.

nyti.ms

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · Sep 3

It is also a distraction because they are likely running into the reality that the legal pretext for going to Chicago without Pritzker's request/consent is a loser. They need to normalize NG in cities first, and the easiest way to do that is w/ cooperative Govs. We have to fight back against it all.

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · Sep 3

This was a completely predictable move that was enabled by everyone on the left screaming "wHaT aBoUt tHe rEd StAteS?!!" Mobilizing the NG to do policing in cities is wrong and unAmerican no matter where in the country they are located.

IT WAS NEVER ABOUT CRIME; it's just about intimidating people.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Sep 3

Trump: "We're making a determination now -- do we go to Chicago, or do we go to a place like New Orleans where we have a great governor who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that's become quite tough, quite bad?"

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Carrie A Lee @carriealee.bsky.social · Aug 18

David French has it exactly right.

Trump’s Domestic Deployments Are Dangerous. For the Military. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/o...

Opinion | Trump’s Domestic Deployments Are Dangerous. For the Military.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Carrie A Lee

Out In National Security @outinnationalsecurity.org · Aug 13

Our CEO, @lfschleusener.bsky.social, is thrilled to be in Ottawa this week to work with @smsaideman.bsky.social, @carriealee.bsky.social, and others on the future of @cdsn.bsky.social, one of our favorite longtime partners.

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