Attorney General Clark Joins States United Against Trump's National Guard Deployment to Oregon

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general and governors in an amicus brief supporting Oregon's court challenge to the Trump administration's latest attempts to illegally use the military for civil law enforcement.

Similar to previous illegal deployments of the National Guard, the president has relied on bombastic rhetoric and lies as pretext for taking military servicemembers from their homes to patrol cities that are not experiencing crises but that are located in states that voted against the president.

On Saturday, a federal judge issued a restraining order temporarily preventing the administration from deploying the Guard in Oregon. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, said the federal government's arguments are "simply untethered to the facts" and "risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power - to the detriment of this nation."

The amicus brief supports Oregon's arguments that a central principle of the rule of law is that the military is subordinate to civilian authority. The president's unlawful and unconstitutional use of the military has exacerbated safety issues and threatened constitutionally protected activity under the First Amendment. Moreover, the president's actions undermine the role of local law enforcement and state sovereignty by sending federalized troops into our communities against the will of local populations.

The states also have an interest in ensuring their National Guards are available to perform the essential services they provide the states on an ongoing basis. They provide critical services responding to natural disasters, counter-drug operations, and cybersecurity support, among other daily contributions to public safety. This unlawful federalization pulls volunteer service members away from performing vital services, and states are not in a position to replace them.

Moreover, state attorneys general continue preparations to defend their states from this illegal federal overreach should the administration continue the illegal deployments directed to Oregon, California, the District of Columbia, and elsewhere.

Joining Attorney General Clark in filing the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. The governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania also joined the filing.

A copy of the brief is available on our website.

CONTACT: Amelia Vath, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General, 802-828-3171