The state of Oregon filed a lawsuit on Sept. 28 seeking to block a federal government plan to deploy National Guard troops in Portland, arguing that the president exceeded his executive authority.
A day after an order from President Donald Trump, War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sept. 28 issued a memorandum to the leadership of the Oregon National Guard requesting that 200 service members be temporarily moved to federal service under Title 10, Section 12406 of the U.S. Code.
“200 members of the Oregon National Guard will be called into Federal service effective immediately for a period of 60 days,” the memo from Hegseth reads.
Responding to the memo, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said he had filed a lawsuit against Trump, Hegseth, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in federal court in Portland to block the order.
“As of 2pm today—less than 6 hours after receiving formal notice that the President had federalized Oregon’s National Guard in Portland—we filed a lawsuit,” Rayfield said on a Sept. 28 post on X. “The president has overstepped his authority.”
The White House said Trump was acting within his authority, citing months of violent unrest outside federal immigration facilities in the city.
“President Trump is using his lawful authority to direct the National Guard to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following months of violent riots where officers have been assaulted and doxxed by left-wing rioters,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.
“The President’s lawful actions will make Portland safer.”
Federalizing the Guard
Hegseth's memo linked to an earlier June memorandum from Trump protecting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) functions.
In it, the president said that, through his authority as commander in chief, he was “ordering into Federal service” members and units of the National Guard to “temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions.”
According to Hegseth’s Sept. 28 memo, Trump was directing Oregon's National Guard troops to enter into federal service "to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel,” as well as federal property, from protests against their law enforcement work, citing current and potential protests identified in DHS threat assessments in Portland.
“The Chief of the National Guard Bureau will immediately coordinate the details of the mobilization with you, in coordination with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Commander, U.S. Northern Command,” Hegseth wrote. “The mobilized Service members will be under the command and control of the Commander, U.S. Northern Command.”
Trump announced the Portland mobilization on Sept. 27 against what he called “ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”
On Sept. 22, he had also issued an executive order that designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization for staging armed standoffs with police, violent assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and organized riots.
Rayfield said that the Oregon state government disagrees with the president on whether the statutory conditions for federalizing the Guard under Section 12406 have been met, saying that the “circumstances of invasion, rebellion, or when federal laws cannot otherwise be executed” do not exist in Oregon.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield (C) speaks as Washington Attorney General Nick Brown (L) and California Attorney General Rob Bonta (R) look on during a town hall event to discuss rule of law and protecting democracy, in Seattle, Wash., on June 2, 2025. Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images
The state also argued that the president’s actions were in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, the 10th Amendment, the Administrative Procedure Act, the separation of powers, and the militia and take care clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, who identifies as a progressive Democrat, criticized the action, saying that state authorities believe there is no need for federal troops in Portland.
“In my conversations directly with President Trump and Secretary Noem, I have been abundantly clear that Portland and the State of Oregon believe in the rule of law and can manage our own local public safety needs,” she said in a post on X.
In an earlier post, she said: “There is no insurrection. There is no threat to national security. There is no need or legal justification for military troops in our major city.”
Trump's deployment of National Guard troops in the sanctuary jurisdiction of Los Angeles also met with a legal challenge.
After a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had exceeded its authority in early September, an appeals court blocked the lower court's action, putting a stay on the ruling that limited the president’s use of the military in Los Angeles until the appeals court has time to fully review the case.
Joseph Lord and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
