Justice Department lawyers say U.S. District Judge April Perry «impermissibly second-guessed the Commander in Chief.»
Late Friday, the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to intervene in the ongoing legal battle over whether the White House can deploy National Guard troops in Illinois.
The Justice Department turned to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking it to delay the effect of a ruling handed down Thursday by U.S. District Judge April Perry.
Perry blocked the Trump administration from “ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois.”
But President Donald Trump’s lawyers told the appellate court that Perry “impermissibly second-guessed the Commander in Chief’s military judgments — something district courts lack the authority and competence to do.”
Perry handed down her ruling after finding the administration’s “perception of events” around Chicago “are simply unreliable,” and she ruled that she had seen “no credible evidence that there is danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois” or that Trump is “unable … to execute the laws of the United States.”
Trump’s Justice Department filed a notice of appeal roughly six hours after Perry announced her ruling from the bench.
