President Trump just won a big victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, against an activist lower federal court which had blocked him from deploying the National Guard in Portland, Oregon.
He can now deploy any National Guard to Portland.
Here’s more from The Hill:
A federal appeals court on Monday said President Trump may deploy the National Guard across Oregon for now, a boon to his efforts to send troops into several Democratic-led cities.
The 2-1 ruling from a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit lifts a lower court order halting Trump’s deployment of National Guard members while the administration’s appeal is resolved.
“Rather than reviewing the President’s determination with great deference, the district court substituted its own determination of the relevant facts and circumstances,” the unsigned order read.
Oregon and Portland officials sued over Trump’s National Guard takeover last month after the president vowed to protect the “war-ravaged” city and its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices he said were “under siege.”
The appeals panel wrote Monday that Trump may have reasons for calling up the National Guard that were not shared publicly or tied solely to the scene on the ground in Portland.
“Even if the President may exaggerate the extent of the problem on social media, this does not change that other facts provide a colorable basis to support the statutory requirements,” the order reads.
The administration had argued that courts must give a “great level of deference” to the president’s determination to federalize the National Guard. The district judge found such deference is important, but not equivalent to “ignoring the facts on the ground.”
The two judges who voted in the majority were Trump appointees, and the one dissenter was a Clinton appointee.