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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 1d

The administration will likely ask the Ninth Circuit to stay the TRO, and it’s unclear what the Ninth Circuit will do. For now, though, the administration’s attempt to deploy troops without legal or factual justification—and to evade a court order blocking that attempt—has been stopped. 7/7

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 1d

At the end of the argument, she granted the motion for a temporary restraining order. The new order, which will remain in place for two weeks, prohibits the deployment of any federalized National Guard forces in Portland. 6/7

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 1d

She reminded the administration’s attorney that he is an “officer of the court,” hinting that it would violate professional obligations to deny that the administration tried to circumvent her order. And she rightly observed that the administration’s actions “contravened” her ruling. 5/7

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 1d

California joined Oregon’s lawsuit, and together they filed an amended complaint and a new motion for a temporary restraining order. Judge Immergut ordered an emergency hearing within hours. She was… not pleased. 4/7

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 1d

Although her opinion made clear that 10 USC § 12406 could not be invoked in Portland, her actual order only referenced the Oregon Guard, so the Trump administration tried to pull a fast one by deploying CA Guard forces (for more on this, see my thread from yesterday). 3/7 bsky.app/profile/liza...

Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

This morning, hours after a federal judge ruled that it would be illegal to federalize and deploy Oregon National Guard troops in Portland, Trump deployed federalized California National Guard troops in Portland. 1/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 1d

Judge Immergut had previously issued an order barring federalization/deployment of the Oregon Guard. The order was based on her conclusion that the conditions in Portland do not justify military deployment under the law Trump had invoked (10 USC § 12406). 2/7

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 1d

President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Portland is off — for now. Last night, Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the deployment of ANY federalized National Guard forces in Portland. 1/7

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

Gov. Newsom says he will seek a court order blocking the use of CA National Guard troops in Portland. The courts should immediately put an end to this unlawful deployment and hold the administration to account for its flagrant attempt to circumvent Judge Immergut’s ruling. 16/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

In this case, though, NO Guard forces can lawfully be federalized and deployed in Portland. The conditions in Los Angeles, as Judge Immergut explicitly noted, provide no legal basis for deployment in Oregon. 15/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

But because the California Guard forces have been federalized, they can be sent anywhere in the country IF the deployment is otherwise lawful. There is no issue of one state invading another because it is the president, not the governor, who is deploying troops. 14/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

The reason why that would be unconstitutional is because states are sovereign entities with respect to one another under the Constitution. As long as Guard forces remain under state command and control, one state’s Guard cannot invade another state. 13/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

…for instance, if he had simply asked a willing governor to send his or her Guard forces into Oregon under 32 U.S.C. § 502(f), a law that allows governors to use their Guard forces for missions requested by the president or secretary of defense. 12/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

A quick note: the fact that Trump is sending California National Guard forces to Oregon without Oregon’s consent is not the primary legal issue here. Doing so would be clearly unconstitutional if he attempted this with unfederalized Guard forces… 11/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

Make no mistake: while Judge Immergut’s two-page order mentioned only the Oregon National Guard, her 31-page opinion leaves no doubt that the deployment of ANY federalized Guard troops in Portland under 10 USC § 12406 is illegal. 10/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

The judge’s order, however, bars Trump from federalizing the *Oregon* Guard and deploying them in Portland. So Trump is now reportedly sending 300 *California* Guard members—who have remained federalized since the June protests in Los Angeles—to Portland. 9/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

Indeed, recent protests at the ICE facility in Portland have been “small and sedate.” Judge Immergut thus concluded that Trump’s determination that he was “unable to execute the laws” in Portland without the Guard “was simply untethered to the facts.” 8/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

Judge Immergut contrasted the situation in Los Angeles with that in Portland. She noted that there had been no acts of violence by protesters in Portland for several weeks at the time Trump ordered federalization. 7/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

Applying a highly deferential standard of review, the Ninth Circuit had held that the federalization of CA National Guard forces was legal because a small percentage of protesters in Los Angeles engaged in violent acts in the days leading up to the federalization. 6/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

He cited 10 USC § 12406, a law that allows the president to federalize Guard forces when he is “unable . . . to execute the laws of the United States” otherwise. He had used the same law in June to federalize California National Guard forces and deploy them in Los Angeles. 5/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

Some more detail: Trump had sought to federalize 200 Oregon National Guard forces and deploy them in Portland, based on wholly unsubstantiated claims that Portland was “War ravaged” and that ICE facilities were “under siege.” 4/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

This is the legal equivalent of a child kicking a sibling after his mother says “violence is never acceptable, so I order you to stop hitting your brother.” If any other litigant pulled a stunt like this, they (and their lawyers) might well be facing sanctions. 3/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

The judge (Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee) had ruled that there is no legal basis for deployment in Portland because recent protests have not been violent. But her actual order only mentions the Oregon Guard, so Trump is trying to get around it by using the California Guard. 2/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 2d

This morning, hours after a federal judge ruled that it would be illegal to federalize and deploy Oregon National Guard troops in Portland, Trump deployed federalized California National Guard troops in Portland. 1/16

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 7d

The generals and admirals were stone-faced as Trump presented his vision. They know that this is not the role of the military. The moral and legal quandary Trump is placing them in is unforgiveable. 6/6

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Liza Goitein @lizagoitein.bsky.social · 7d

This doesn’t just represent contempt for the law, which does not allow the military to practice its skills at home. It represents contempt for the safety of Americans, civilians and soldiers alike, caught up in the president’s desire to play war in American cities. 5/6

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