The Trump administration on Friday filed an emergency stay request with the Supreme Court to undo a lower court order. blocking the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago.
“This Court should suspend the district court’s October 9 injunction in its entirety,” said the document, written by Attorney General John Sauer.
Sauer argued that the court order “impinges on the president’s authority and unnecessarily endangers federal personnel and property.”
Members of the Texas National Guard carry rifles and riot shields at an Army Reserve training center Oct. 7, 2025 in Elwood, Illinois.
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He said the Supreme Court should intervene now “so that the National Guard can perform its protective role while any additional litigation continues. Given the pressing risk of violence, this Court should also grant an immediate administrative stay pending consideration of the present application.”
On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said the Trump administration’s decision to deploy National Guard troops was a “likely violation” of the 10th Amendment, which reserves certain powers to the states.
The panel, which includes a Trump-appointed judge and Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, also concluded that the Trump administration was “unlikely to succeed” in demonstrating that there is a “rebellion” against the authority of the U.S. government or that the president is incapable of carrying out the law with regular forces.
The US Supreme Court building in Washington, June 1, 2024.
Will Dunham/Reuters, Files
A temporary restraining order blocking Guard deployment remains in effect until October 23. U.S. District Judge April Perry has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 22 to determine whether the temporary order should be extended.
As of last week, there were about 200 federalized National Guard troops from Texas and 14 from California currently in Illinois, according to a statement from a U.S. Army official. Another 300 Illinois Guardsmen have been mobilized by the president despite the objections of Governor JB Pritzker.
President Donald Trump has said Civil Guard troops are needed to prevent crime in Chicago, which he described as a “war zone.”
