The Oregon House of Representatives passed a bill that limits the circumstances under which the Oregon National Guard can be deployed. The bill, passed in a 32-16 vote, stands as an affront to the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard in California.
Under House Bill 3954, the “Adjutant General may not assist, facilitate, communicate or allow communications between the United States Department of Defense or any branch thereof and individual service members or units of the Oregon National Guard on any matter associated with the individual or unit being called into active service” unless certain criterion are met. These requirements include support of a congressionally authorized military operation, a response to a national disaster, support of DHS consistent with federal law, training duties, military support of another state with the approval of the state’s governor, or support of civil authorities for duties supported by Congress.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Paul Evans (D), told KATV that the “mobilization of the National Guard against the governor’s wishes, inside their own state, is exactly what the National Guard is not supposed to do.”
“As somebody who has spent time on active duty as well as in the Guard, a professional military officer for much of my career, there are clear lines, and this president has violated that line, he said, adding, “The National Guard should never be involved directly in law enforcement. That is the one thing the National Guard is never supposed to be doing for the federal government.”
President Donald Trump secured a win against a lawsuit in California claiming that the deployment of the National Guard violated the Constitution.
Judge Mark J. Bennett wrote for the court that judges “conclude that it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority under § 12406(3), which authorizes federalization of the National Guard when ‘the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.’”
