Posse Comitatus Act

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (ZFJ) — The Supreme Court denied President Donald Trump’s emergency appeal to allow him federalize the Illinois National Guard (ILNG) and deploy soldiers to Chicago on Dec. 23, 2025. Trump has sought to deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Chicago; Memphis, Tennessee; and Portland, Oregon. In the cases of D.C. and Memphis, he said such a deployment was necessary to stop rampant crime. In the cases of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, he said it was needed to protect federal immigration operations, which have encountered significant public backlash due to federal officers’ violent tactics.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (ZFJ) — A federal district judge in California ruled on Sept. 2 that President Donald Trump’s use of the California National Guard and U.S. Marines in Los Angeles violated a federal law restricting the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. Raising concerns about Trump’s potential use of the military elsewhere in the nation, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer found that Trump’s use of the soldiers violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the military for civilian law enforcement without authorization from Congress or the Constitution.