Oregon sues Trump administration over National Guard deployment

María Paula Mijares Torres, Bloomberg News on Sep 28, 2025

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Oregon officials sued the Trump administration one day after President Donald Trump ordered troops to Portland he said were needed to quell protests outside an immigration facility.

The suit filed in federal court in Oregon called his troop callup an “unlawful federalization” of the National Guard.

The lawsuit comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent a memo to Governor Tina Kotek on Sunday ordering 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to “perform federal functions” for 60 days, the state’s attorney general, Dan Rayfield, wrote in a post on X.

The National Guard responsibilities would include protecting federal property “where protests are occurring or are likely to occur,” he said in the statement.

Governors control their states’ National Guard. Trump was able to deploy Guard troops in Washington, DC, because of its status as a federal district. He also sent troops to Memphis with the governor’s approval. California Governor Gavin Newsom successfully challenged Trump’s deployment of Guard troops in his state in June, but the White House is appealing the federal court ruling.

The Oregon lawsuit says that the president lacks authority to deploy the guard. The law permits federal control of the National Guard only in cases of invasion, rebellion, or when federal laws cannot otherwise be enforced — conditions that Oregon says are not happening.

“Oregon communities are stable, and our local officials have been clear: we have the capacity to manage public safety without federal interference,” Rayfield wrote in the post. “What we’re seeing is not about public safety, it’s about the president flexing political muscle under the guise of law and order, chasing a media hit at the expense of our community.”

Deployments in Portland would mark the fourth U.S. city where Trump has sent National Guard troops for duty, assigning them to assist immigration officers, clean up streets and help fight local crime. In Portland, he authorized the use of “full force” if necessary.

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(With assistance from Madlin Mekelburg.)