Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered 200 Oregon National Guardsmen to be placed under federal command for operations in the state. The seizure of the troops came two days after President Donald Trump said he was sending the military to Portland, which he accused of being “war ravaged.”
A Sept. 28 memo, signed by Hegseth and directed to the adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard via Gov. Tina Kotek, called for federalizing 200 members of the Oregon National Guard under Title 10 of the U.S. Code. They are being called into federal service to “protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other U.S. Government personnel who are performing Federal functions,” the memo notes. The order outlines a mobilization of 60 days.
The Pentagon did not immediately have information on Trump’s order on Friday, and a spokesperson for the Department of Defense would not confirm the authenticity of the memo on Sunday. However, Gov. Tina Kotek’s office did. In a statement, Kotek said that she had spoken with Trump on Saturday and said there was no insurrection in the city to justify such a response. “Putting our own military on our streets is an abuse of power and a disservice to our communities and our service members,” she said.
On Monday, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed the order and said that the federalized Oregon Guard soldiers will be “under the command and control of the Commander of U.S. Northern Command.”
There has been no widespread unrest in Portland. The ICE facility in the city has seen small but ongoing protests for months.
Top Stories This Week
The governor and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a preliminary injunction against the federalization of troops. It argues that the federal order violates the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
On Friday, Trump posted to Truth Social saying that he had ordered the Department of Defense to “provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.” In his post, the president also said that he was “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
The order echoes Trump’s earlier federalization of more than 4,000 California National Guard troops in June to protect federal personnel and multiple buildings in the Los Angeles area, but at a much smaller scale. People have been protesting at an ICE facility in Portland — a single building in the city.
Of the more than 4,000 California National Guard troops federalized under Title 10, only approximately 300 remain in federal control. A federal judge found that the Trump administration violated the Posse Comitatus Act in its use of the California Guard; that case is currently being appealed.
In August, the District of Columbia National Guard was mobilized in the nation’s capital over allegations of rampant crime in Washington, D.C. Seven states have sent their own troops to D.C. to support the operation, with more than 2,000 National Guard personnel involved. In each case, they were called up under Title 32, where they are under their state governor’s leadership; in the case of the D.C. Guard, the president serves as the commander. Meanwhile, 160 Tennessee National Guard troops are expected to arrive in Memphis this week to aid federal law enforcement, according to the state.
