President Donald Trump and senior officials in his administration have heavily criticized District Court judges standing in the way of implementing their policies. Many have been Democratic appointees, but now a judge Trump raised to the bench is standing firm, barring him from sending National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon.
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut has now ruled twice on the plan: once blocking the federalization of Oregon’s troops, and then using California’s as a workaround.
“How could bringing in federalized National Guard from California not be in direct contravention to the temporary restraining order I issued yesterday?” she questioned the federal government’s attorney on Sunday.
“Aren’t defendants simply circumventing my order?” she later said. “Why is this appropriate?”
William Banks, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York, told Newsweek that he believes Immergut’s decisions will have taken the White House by surprise.
“This has all become so partisan that people expect the partisan outcomes,” Banks said. “She’s a rule of law person, I think, and she looked carefully at what the law is, recognized that the national government was attempting to trample on the decision-making prerogatives that belong to the state government, and she said so.”
Why It Matters
Trump’s White House has clashed with district judges multiple times since January, with the president often expressing his frustrations that local justices have the authority to issue injunctions that either prevent his plans in cities or states, and nationwide, an issue that the U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to address. It has been repeatedly argued that the Judiciary is meant to hold the other two branches of government accountable, regardless of who is in power.
Who Is Judge Karin Immergut?
Most Americans go about their lives without knowing much about the judges appointed to federal courts, likely with the exception of the U.S. Supreme Court justices, but over the past few months, a few names have been brought into the spotlight, such as James Boasberg, the chief justice at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Boasberg blocked the use of the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport immigrants accused of being members of Tren de Aragua.
Immergut appears to be the latest justice to attract national attention, after the issue of deploying National Guard troops to Portland came across her desk.
She was nominated by Trump during his first term in office in January 2019. The U.S. Senate confirmed her on July 31, 2019, and she began her work in August that year.
Immergut, born in Brooklyn, New York, worked in private practice in Washington, D.C., in the late 1980s, before a stint in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California into the early 1990s.
In 1998, she worked for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr as he was investigating then-President Bill Clinton. She personally questioned Monica Lewinsky in August 1998 as part of the case.
She then began working full-time in Oregon in the late 1990s, eventually becoming Assistant U.S. Attorney for Oregon in 2001 and subsequently U.S. Attorney for Oregon from 2003 to 2009. She then assumed a role as a judge in 2009, before being appointed by Trump.
What Has Immergut Ruled on the National Guard?
The first case Immergut heard was brought by the state of Oregon over the President’s move to federalize National Guard troops in the state and deploy them to Portland, which he had characterized as a war zone.
On Saturday, October 4, Immergut stated that relatively small protests in Portland, occupying roughly one city block, did not justify the use of troops and that deploying them could compromise Oregon’s sovereignty.
“This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” Immergut wrote. She continued, “This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.”
The Trump administration then filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, but it was another action by the White House that brought Immergut back into court on Sunday: the reported attempt to circumvent her order by using California and Texas troops instead.
Immergut issued a second temporary restraining order against the Trump administration, which remains in effect through October 19.
What People Are Saying
Professor William Banks told Newsweek: “I think the rule of law is on the side of the governor in Oregon, just as it has been in Illinois and California. So, it’s a very worrisome thing for those of us who care a great deal about the rule of law, particularly in relation to the use of the military, because we have a long history in the United States of reserving policing to civilians. We’ve always had it that way, we like it that way, we expect our laws to be enforced by police, by local civilian officials, not by the military. The military aren’t trained for law enforcement.”
Oregon Democratic Governor Tina Kotek, in a statement Sunday: “The facts haven’t changed. There is no need for military intervention in Oregon. There is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security. Oregon is our home, not a military target. Oregonians exercising their freedom of speech against unlawful actions by the Trump Administration should do so peacefully.
“I will continue to keep the public apprised. As Governor, I will continue to fight to uphold the rule of law and the right to govern ourselves.”
President Donald Trump, at the White House on Sunday: “Portland is burning to the ground…All you have to do is look at the TV and read your newspapers. That judge ought to be ashamed of himself.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement: “The rule of law has prevailed – and California’s National Guard will soon be heading home. This ruling is more than a legal victory, it’s a victory for American democracy itself. Donald Trump tried to turn our soldiers into instruments of his political will. While our fight continues, tonight the rule of law said ‘hell no’.”
Stephen Miller, Deputy White House Chief of Staff, on X: “The President is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, not an Oregon judge. Portland and Oregon law enforcement, at the direction of local leaders, have refused to aid ICE officers facing relentless terrorist assault and threats to life.”
What Happens Next
Immergut has given parties just under two weeks to gather themselves and their evidence ahead of the hearing to decide whether the injunctions will continue or not.
