US judge blocks Trump from deploying National Guard troops to Portland
A federal judge in Oregon on Sunday temporarily blocked Donald Trump's administration from sending any National Guard troops to police Portland, Oregon, a setback for the president as he seeks to dispatch the military to cities over the objections of their Democratic leaders.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut followed the Trump administration's decision to call in troops from California and Texas just one day after she temporarily blocked Trump from deploying 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Immergut, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, said there was no evidence that recent protests necessitated the presence of National Guard troops, no matter where they came from.
"How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention of the (decision) I issued yesterday?" Immergut asked Justice Department attorney Eric Hamilton during a hearing on Sunday night.
“Is there any legal authority for what you are doing?"
Hamilton replied that the California National Guard was legally federalized on June 7, in a mission that was "not limited in any way to the state of California."
Sending those troops to Portland was a reasonable step toward fulfilling that earlier mission, to protect federal personnel and property throughout the U.S., Hamilton said.
Oregon's attorney Scott Kennedy argued the Trump administration's quick pivot to using other states' National Guard to police Portland was an exercise in "gamesmanship" that defied the intent of Immergut's earlier ruling.
"It feels like we're playing a game of rhetorical whack-a-mole here," Kennedy said at Sunday's hearing.
Immergut's ruling, which will remain in effect until at least October 19, means the Trump administration will be blocked from sending National Guard troops from any state or Washington, D.C. to Portland while Oregon and California seek a longer-term ruling in court.
There was no immediate comment from the White House or from the Pentagon on the judge's order.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump had said he did not know which judge issued Saturday's ruling, but that he was not "served well" by those who advised him to make the appointment in his first term. "That judge ought to be ashamed of himself," Trump said of Immergut, mistaking her gender.
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