PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) – A federal judge will decide whether to grant a temporary restraining order Friday blocking the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland.
On Sunday, Sept. 28, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a lawsuit US District Court against the Trump administration over the plan to deploy troops to Portland.
The following day, the City of Portland and State of Oregon filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, which asks the judge to order the government to pause the plans for deployment and instead maintain status quo while the court case is litigated.
Judge Karin Immergut is preceding over the hearing after Judge Michael Simon recused himself on Thursday. Simon is married to Oregon Representative Suzanne Bonamici, and the Department of Justice was wanted Simon to recuse himself to “avoid the appearance of partiality.”
Judge Immergut was nominated by Pres. Trump in his first term and she became a federal judge in Aug. 2019.
The main question of the lawsuit is whether Trump properly used Title 10 of U.S. law to federalize National Guard troops.
There are two questions at the heart of this case:
- Do the court or the plaintiffs have any standing to intervene on an order from the executive branch federalizing National Guard troops. This is something we have seen played out in lawsuits around deployments in Los Angeles and Washington, DC. But there are several legal questions in those cases that have not yet been settled
- Have the conditions been met for the president to invoke Title 10 to nationalize the troops. The defense is sighting two legal precedents here; one if that troops can be federalized when there is “a rebellion or danger of rebellion” and the other is “when the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws.”
But the core questions of the case will not be decided Friday. The judge will instead decide on whether there will be irreparable harm by either allowing the deployment to proceed or hitting the pause button on that deployment.
Judge Immergut may rule from the bench with a verbal order or may take the matter under advisement and post a written decision later on.
Latest updates follow:
11:45 a.m. Court has adjourned. No decision from the bench. The judge will send a written order either Friday night or Saturday.
10:00 a.m. Hearing has begun.
Scott Kennedy will be the lead attorney for the state, and Eric Hamilton will lead for the defense.
9:45 a.m. People present at the hearing include Mayor Keith Wilson, Portland City Attorney Robert Taylor, and Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards. Not present is Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield.
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