Oct. 29 (UPI) — A federal appeals court has agreed to reconsider a decision that would have allowed President Donald Trump to send National Guard troops to Portland, Ore.
The decision tosses out a ruling from last week of a three-judge panel that overturned a lower court’s ruling against the administration.
The administration has been blocked since earlier this month from deploying troops to the city because of Judge Karin Immergut’s ban.
The panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Oct. 20 paused Immergut’s order. It said she had not shown sufficient deference to the president’s judgment that troops were needed to carry out federal law. Protests were preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from arresting people in the city, the administration alleged. The ruling was 2-1 in the three-judge panel.
The two judges in the majority were appointed during Trump’s first term, as was Immergut. The third judge, who dissented, was Judge Susan P. Graber, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton. She urged the court to reconsider the case in an en banc panel, a group of 11 judges.
The Portland plaintiffs also pushed for an en banc panel, arguing that the previous decision “affronts Oregon’s sovereignty and erodes the rule of law.” The Department of Justice argued that the court “should decline to disturb the panel’s stay decision and allow the appeal to proceed in the ordinary course.”
On Tuesday, Judge Mary H. Murguia, chief judge of the circuit, issued a brief order saying that “upon the vote of a majority of nonrecused active judges, it is ordered that this case be reheard en banc,” and that the previous order be vacated. No date was set for the en banc hearing.
The White House said in a statement that it expected “the court to uphold the law.”
“The facts haven’t changed,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, the Washington Post reported. “Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to protect federal officers and assets.”
Oregon officials cheered the decision. Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, said the vote “shows the truth matters and that the courts are working to hold this administration accountable.”
The office of Gov. Tina Kotek, also a Democrat, said the ruling “is good news for everyone who cares about the rule of law in America. Oregon stands united against this unwanted, unneeded, unconstitutional military intervention,” in a statement.
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