Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield sued Donald Trump and his administration on September 28, 2025, to prevent the president from usurping Oregon’s control over its national guard and illegally interfering with Oregon and Portland’s law enforcement efforts. President Trump posted on social media a message falsely asserting that Portland was “war ravaged” and calling on the Secretary of Defense (currently referred to as the Secretary of War) to deploy “troops” who would be authorized to use “Full Force” against American citizens. The Secretary complied by issuing a memorandum calling up 200 members of the Oregon National Guard into federal service. 

The purported justification for the unlawful troop deployment was in response to protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland — protests that typically involve fewer than 30 people and which have been so peaceful that no arrests have been made in more than three months. Such a patently pretextual justification does not meet the statutory requirements for federalizing National Guard troops without the consent of the state. Using military forces to engage in law enforcement violates the Posse Comitatus Act. In addition, the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution reserves police power to the states, not the federal government. Federalizing state National Guard troops would harm Oregon by instigating further protest, impeding business activity in Portland, and hampering normal functions of the National Guard such as responding to natural disasters. 

The district court granted an order preventing the federal government from federalizing and deploying the Oregon National Guard on October 4, 2025. In response, the Trump administration attempted to federalize California, and then Texas, National Guard troops into Oregon, which California joined Oregon in opposing. The judge expanded the order to prohibit the deployment of any National Guard troops, regardless of origin, asserting that conditions in Portland did not justify a federal military response. The 9th Circuit allowed the federal government to take control of Oregon National Guard troops on October 8, 2025, but left in place the prohibition against deploying any troops in Portland.  On October 14, 2025, the district court extended the order blocking troop deployment for an additional 14 days and set a three-day trial to begin October 29, 2025. 

On October 20, 2025, a Ninth Circuit panel stayed the District Court’s first order on a 2-1 vote, possibly allowing deployment of National Guard troops. On October 28, the Ninth Circuit vacated the ruling that would have allowed Trump to deploy troops in Portland and ordered the case to be reheard en banc with an 11-judge panel. Until the larger hearing is held, the district court rulings blocking troop deployment remain in place. 

The court is sending a clear message: the president cannot send the military into U.S. cities unnecessarily. We will continue defending Oregon’s laws, values, and sovereignty as this case moves forward and our fight continues in the courts. Attorney General Dan Rayfield