Judge Blocks Trump's National Guard Deployment to Oregon

A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying any National Guard units to Oregon, including the California National Guard, the AP reports. California and Oregon sought the temporary restraining order after the president sent guard members from California to Oregon earlier in the day. On Saturday, the same judge temporarily blocked the administration from deploying Oregon National Guard troops to Portland. A Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement that about 200 federalized members of the California National Guard who had been on duty around Los Angeles were being reassigned to Portland. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said about 100 arrived Saturday and around 100 more were en route Sunday. Kotek said there had been no formal communication with the federal government about the deployment.

The two states originally requested a narrower order that would have blocked only California National Guard troops from being sent to Oregon, but asked for the order to apply to all National Guard troops after a memo written by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was submitted to the court that said up to 400 Texas National Guard personnel were being activated for deployment to Oregon, Illinois, and possibly elsewhere. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a post on X Sunday night that he had authorized the call-up. "You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it," he wrote.

The events in Oregon come a day after Illinois' governor made a similar announcement about troops in his state being activated. Kotek said the latest move by federal officials is an attempt to circumvent Saturday's court ruling that blocked deployment of Oregon's guard members. "The facts on the ground in Oregon haven't changed," Kotek said during a news conference Sunday. "There's no need for military intervention in Oregon. There's no insurrection in Portland, there's no threat to national security." California also joined Oregon's lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's deployment of National Guard personnel to Portland as unlawful and unnecessary overreach.