Newsom to sue Trump over National Guard deployment, urges Americans to ‘speak out’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Sunday that the Trump administration is deploying 300 of his state’s National Guard troops to Portland, Ore., and he vowed he would sue over the move.
On Saturday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s deployment of 200 Oregon National Guard troops to the state’s largest city. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, granted state and local officials a temporary restraining order against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s authorization to federalize the Oregon guard troops.
“This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power,” Newsom said in a release. “The Trump Administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of the law itself and putting into action their dangerous words — ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents.”
Last month, President Trump ordered Hegseth to deploy guard troops to Portland amid protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the city. The president, in a post on his Truth Social platform announcing the order, claimed the building was “under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, state Attorney General Dan Rayfield and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, all Democrats, have pushed back against Trump’s assertions. In the restraining order request filed on Sept. 28, the plaintiffs called the deployment “heavy-handed” and unlawful.
This is the second time Trump has federalized the California National Guard against Newsom’s wishes. In June, the president ordered 4,000 troops and roughly 700 Marines to Los Angeles, amid protests against ICE raids in and around the city.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that the administration’s move violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the military from being used for civilian law enforcement. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) argued that Trump’s order exceeded his authority, as Newsom controls the state’s guard unless the U.S. faces the threat of invasion or rebellion, or the president is unable “with the regular forces to execute the laws,” according to Title 10, Section 12406 of the U.S. Code.
In his statement announcing legal action Sunday, the California governor called on Americans to “speak out” against the president’s actions.
“This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power,” Newsom added. “The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens. We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the President of the United States.”