SCOTUS denied a request by the Trump admin to block a lower court order preventing the deployment of the National Guard to Chicago.
‘I am not prepared at this point to express a definite view on these questions, but I have serious doubts about the correctness of the Court’s views,’ wrote Justice Alito.
In a tough blow for the Trump administration, the U.S. Supreme Court shot down a bid by President Trump to deploy the National Guard to Chicago late Tuesday.
In its order in Trump v. Illinois, the high court denied a request from the Trump administration to temporarily stay an Oct. 9 temporary restraining order issued by Biden-appointed District Judge April Perry. That order sought to prevent Trump from deploying the National Guard to Chicago to protect federal property and immigration officials under siege by left-wing anarchists.
Perry’s order prompted the federal government to file an application for temporary stay with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which granted in part and denied in part the administration’s request. As described by Justia, the three-judge panel “denied the administration’s motion for a stay pending appeal as to deployment [of the Guard], but continued to stay the portion of the order enjoining federalization.”
The Trump administration appealed to SCOTUS for relief on Oct. 17.
Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the administration’s request to stay the lower court’s blockade.
In its order, the majority claimed that, “At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.” It further argued that Trump “has not invoked a statute that provides an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act,” and that, “Instead, he relies on inherent constitutional authority that, according to the Government, allows him to use the military to protect federal personnel and property.”
“But the Government also claims — consistent with the longstanding view of the Executive Branch — that performing such protective functions does not constitute ‘execut[ing] the laws’ within the meaning of the Posse Comitatus Act. … If that is correct, it is hard to see how performing those functions could constitute ‘execut[ing] the laws’ under §12406(3),” the order reads. “Thus, at least in this posture, the Government has not carried its burden to show that §12406(3) permits the President to federalize the Guard in the exercise of inherent authority to protect federal personnel and property in Illinois. We need not and do not address the reviewability of findings made by the President under §12406(3) or any other statute.
