A divided US appeals court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to send National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon, overruling objections from city and state leaders. A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals approved the Justice Department’s request to stay a lower court’s order that had previously blocked the deployment, allowing the legal challenge to proceed while troops are sent, Reuters reported.A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Justice Department’s request to put on hold a judge’s order that had blocked the deployment while a legal challenge to Trump’s action plays out. The court said that sending in the National Guard was an appropriate response to protesters, who had damaged a federal building and threatened US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The unsigned majority opinion was joined by Circuit Judge Bridget Bade and Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson, who were both appointed by Trump in his first term. Nelson also wrote a concurring opinion saying courts have no ability to even review the president’s decision to send troops. Circuit Judge Susan Graber, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, dissented. She said allowing troops to be called in response to “merely inconvenient” protests was “not merely absurd” but dangerous, and she said the full 9th Circuit should overturn the ruling before Trump has a chance to send troops. “Today’s ruling, if allowed to stand, would give the president unilateral power to put Oregon soldiers on our streets with almost no justification,” Rayfield said. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson welcomed the ruling, saying Trump had exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel from protesters. Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to weigh his authority to send troops to Democratic-led cities, after another US appeals court ruled against his decision to send troops to Chicago. On October 4, Portland-based US District Judge Karin Immergut, who is also a Trump appointee, blocked Trump from sending any National Guard troops to Portland at least until the end of October, and has scheduled a non-jury trial set to begin on October 29 to determine whether to impose a longer-term block. Trump on September 27 had ordered 200 National Guard troops to Portland, continuing his administration’s unprecedented use of military personnel in US cities to suppress protests and bolster domestic immigration enforcement. Trump called the city “War ravaged” and said, “I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
Oregon governor urges court to block trump national guard deployment
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has appealed to a federal appeals court to overturn a decision by a three-judge panel made on Monday, which would allow Donald Trump to deploy federalised National Guard troops to the streets of Portland, despite opposition from state and local officials, as per the Guardian.Kotek expressed her hope that the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will vacate the panel’s 2–1 decision, aligning with the request of the dissenting judge, Portland-based Susan Graber.“I’m very troubled by the decision of the court,” Kotek told reporters. “I still urge the Trump administration to send all the National Guard members home.”
