Skip to main content
Citing a court order, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek today told the United States Northern Command to demobilize the 200 members of the Oregon National Guard it was preparing for a mission to Portland, and to return the 200 California National Guard members that had come to aid that mission back to their home state.
The Trump administration had assumed command of the National Guard members for a mission to protect federal personnel and property in the city. But, amid opposition from local leaders who said the deployment was illegal and unnecessary, a judge intervened this weekend, saying the president likely lacked the legal basis to federalize the troops in this way, given the facts on the ground.
A higher court is considering the Trump administration’s appeal, with oral arguments set for Thursday. In the meantime though, Oregon National Guard members assigned to the mission have been staged at Camp Rilea in Warrenton, Ore. and the California National Guard members staged at Camp Withycombe near Happy Valley—all in a kind of limbo.
In her letter to Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, Kotek called for them to be released from the mission and sent home.
“Given the federal district court judge Karin J. Immergut’s order on Oregon’s second motion for temporary restraining order heard at 7:00 p.m. October 5, 2025, I am directing you to immediately take action to demobilize Oregon’s 200 National Guard soldiers currently staged at Camp Rilea, along with returning to California the 200 California National Guard soldiers currently staged at Camp Withycombe,” Kotek wrote in the letter, a copy of which was provided by the governor’s office.
Neither the U.S. Northern Command nor the Pentagon responded to a question from WW about whether the military would accede to Kotek’s request. The Trump administration had justified the federalization of state National Guard troops based in part on a law which permits it to do so in circumstances of invasion, rebellion, or when federal laws cannot otherwise be executed. In a lawsuit, Oregon argued these circumstances did not exist in Oregon, and the judge agreed.
Kotek is normally the commander in chief of the Oregon National Guard, except in circumstances when they are activated by the federal government. In her letter to Guillot, she added, “Our citizen soldiers deserve better than to be uprooted from their families and careers, only to be mobilized for an illegal mission positioning our soldiers in opposition to the U.S. Constitution’s 1st, 4th and 10th amendments, of which they have taken an oath to uphold.
“Additionally, as you can understand, this mission disrupts an already demanding schedule of our National Guard solders’ required trainings and lawful deployments currently planned out for the next several years. It also comes with a price tag currently being footed by the American people.”
