PORTLAND, Ore. — In a significant legal victory for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump can take command of Oregon’s National Guard troops, though a separate court order continues to prevent their actual deployment. The decision by a divided panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, October 21, 2025, stayed a lower court’s order that had barred the President from federalizing the troops.
Appeals Court Reverses Lower Court Order
The 9th Circuit’s 2-1 ruling overturned a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who had previously determined that the Trump administration lacked sufficient justification for federalizing the Oregon National Guard. The appeals court majority found that the President likely lawfully exercised his statutory authority to bring the state’s Guard members into federal service. Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade, both appointed by Trump, stated in their opinion that the law “does not limit the facts and circumstances that the President may consider” when deciding whether to dispatch soldiers domestically. They reasoned that Judge Immergut’s assessment of the protests in Portland was too narrow and did not adequately consider evidence of violence and disruption.
Deployment Remains Barred, For Now
Despite the appeals court’s decision regarding command authority, President Trump remains barred from actually deploying the Oregon National Guard troops to Portland. This continued restriction stems from a second temporary restraining order issued by Judge Immergut, which prohibited the deployment of any National Guard members to Oregon. The Trump administration had appealed Immergut’s initial order, and the 9th Circuit’s ruling was on that specific appeal. The Justice Department has since urged Judge Immergut to dissolve her second order, arguing that it rests on the same legal reasoning as the first and should therefore fall.
Legal Battles Over National Guard Authority
The case is part of a broader legal conflict across the USA concerning the President’s authority to deploy National Guard troops in cities facing civil unrest or protests. Oregon and the city of Portland filed suit, arguing that the federalization of the Guard without state consent violated the 10th Amendment and state sovereignty. They contended that the conditions for federalizing the Guard under Title 10 of U.S. Code—such as invasion, rebellion, or an inability to execute federal laws with regular forces—were not met. The Trump administration, however, asserted that the President’s determination regarding the necessity of deploying troops warrants deference. The Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law generally prohibiting the use of the military for domestic law enforcement, also looms over these legal challenges, though its application to National Guard units under federal control is a key point of contention.
Reactions and Future Steps
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield criticized the appeals court’s decision, stating it “would give the president unilateral power to put Oregon soldiers on the streets with almost no justification, calling it a dangerous path for America”. Legal experts and civil liberties advocates have also expressed concern about the ruling setting a dangerous precedent for federal-state relations and the use of military force domestically.
The legal fight is far from over. The state of Oregon and the city of Portland have requested that the 9th Circuit reconsider the ruling before a larger panel of judges. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Immergut is scheduled to hold a hearing to decide on the fate of her second restraining order, which continues to block any deployment. The Trump administration has also sought Supreme Court intervention in similar cases concerning National Guard deployments in Chicago and Los Angeles. The current news cycle highlights ongoing tensions between federal and state authority in the United States concerning the National Guard’s role in domestic affairs.
The approximately 200 Oregon National Guard members who were activated remain in limbo, neither deployed nor released from federal service, awaiting further judicial decisions.
