OLYMPIA, WA – Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is leading a coalition of 24 attorneys general and governors in supporting Oregon’s legal challenge to the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy the National Guard for civil law enforcement.
According to a news release from Brown’s office, the coalition filed an amicus brief asserting that the president’s actions to send military personnel into states against their will are unlawful and unconstitutional.
The filing follows a federal judge’s temporary restraining order issued Saturday that halted the planned deployment. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut wrote that the federal government’s arguments were “untethered to the facts” and risked blurring the line between civilian and military power.
The brief argues that the president’s actions undermine state sovereignty, local law enforcement, and the rule of law by using the military for domestic purposes. It also notes that removing National Guard members from their home states disrupts essential services such as disaster response and public safety operations.
The brief was co-led by Brown and Maryland’s attorney general and joined by attorneys general from 21 other states and the District of Columbia, along with the governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
