Gov. Josh Shapiro announced this week that Pennsylvania has joined a legal effort to challenge President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in American cities under federal orders.
Pennsylvania is part of a group of 24 attorneys general and governors who have filed an amicus brief supporting Oregon’s court challenge to the Guard deployment in its state.
Under the law, each state has a National Guard that is under control of each governor, with the majority of the force being part-time. National Guard units typically are under state control, but in certain situations, they can be federalized by the president to mobilize on U.S. Department of Defense orders.
Trump has deployed National Guard troops to several major cities, including Chicago, Memphis, and Portland, Oregon, in what he has said is a move to combat crime.
Officials in Illinois and Oregon have filed legal challenges arguing against the move.
A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order Thursday against the mobilization of National Guard troops against the will of local officials. Officials in Illinois raised concern that the president’s actions violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which puts limits on using of federalized military forces for civilian law enforcement.
Shapiro, a Democrat, has called Trump’s actions a threat to states’ rights.
“Deploying the National Guard to patrol American cities over the wishes of their governors is incredibly dangerous and an unprecedented infringement on states’ rights,” Shapiro said in a social media post. “Pennsylvania just took legal action to support our fellow states and put an end to the dangerous overreach of power we are seeing with Donald Trump’s Guard deployments.”
The state officials argue in the brief that the president’s move to federalize guard members and deploy them for law enforcement is “unlawful, unconstitutional, and undemocratic.”
The brief states that the president’s action is “inconsistent with one of our Nation’s founding principles that freedom depends on the subordination of the military to civilian authority.” The officials contend the action violates core principles of federalism and infringes on state sovereignty.
By calling forth troops under federal orders “when there is no invasion to repel, no rebellion to suppress, and when state and local law enforcement are fully able to execute the law, the president undermines the rule of law, and sets a chilling precedent that puts the constitutional rights of all Americans at risk,” the brief argues.
Shapiro, who serves as the commander-in-chief of the Pennsylvania National Guard, said his action is about protecting the rule of law.
“I think the way the President has chosen to deploy the guard in other states, and in at least one case, deploy the guard of one state into another state — Texas into Illinois — is extremely dangerous,” Shapiro said.
“The way in which the president of the United States has engaged on this guard issue does not make us more safe. It creates chaos and real danger in our communities,” he added.
Earlier this year, Trump deployed National Guard troopers on federal orders and U.S. Marines to deal with immigration protests outside federal facilities in Los Angeles. A federal judge last month ruled the president’s orders violated the law.
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