SEATTLE, WA – Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general and governors in opposing President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, calling the move unlawful and unconstitutional.

In an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, Brown and other state leaders urged the court to deny the Trump administration’s request to stay a lower court order blocking the deployment. The coalition supports Illinois and the City of Chicago in their lawsuit challenging the president’s action.

According to the brief, the president’s decision to deploy the National Guard without the consent of Illinois’ governor violates federal law and undermines the principle of civilian control of the military. The filing also argues that the move threatens state sovereignty and fundamental constitutional principles of federalism.

“Trump has repeatedly made up excuses to use the military against Americans, in violation of our country’s founding principles and our constitutional rights,” Brown said in a statement. “The U.S. military exists to serve the people, not the president’s authoritarianism.”

Earlier this month, Brown and other attorneys general filed a similar amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit supporting Illinois’ challenge to the deployment. The appellate court ruled that while the president could place National Guard troops under federal control, he could not proceed with deploying them to Chicago.

The new Supreme Court filing was co-led by Brown and the attorney general of Maryland. Attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin joined the brief. The governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania also joined the filing.