U.S. Northern Command plans to demobilize all remaining members of the Oregon National Guard by Friday, Gov. Tina Kotek announced.
President Donald Trump can retain control of some Oregon National Guard troops currently under his command, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Wednesday afternoon.
The appellate court said they would wait to hear the case until the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision in a similar case involving the National Guard deployment to Chicago.
The news in Oregon came just hours after Gov. Tina Kotek announced that the military planned to demobilize all remaining members of the Oregon National Guard by Friday.
The governor said Monday that 100 Oregon guard troops were in process of being demobilized, while the other 100 would remain under the authority of President Donald Trump. That shifted Wednesday after the governor’s office said Kotek received a “verbal demobilization order from the U.S. Northern Command.”
The 200 Oregon National Guard troops were first called into service by Trump on Sept. 28, over the governor’s objections, in response to ongoing protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland. The troop’s federalization and deployment has been the subject of several legal challenges.
“I am relieved that all 200 Oregon citizen-soldiers are finally heading home,” Kotek said in Wednesday’s statement. “They spent nearly 50 days away from their families, friends, and civilian jobs on an unnecessary mission that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.”
After Kotek’s news release, OPB contacted Northern Command, where a U.S. military press official expressed confusion over the governor’s announcement, and said 100 Oregon guard members remain federalized.
“We, U.S. Northern Command, are aware of the governor’s release and we stand by our statement,” spokesperson Rebecca Farmer said Wednesday afternoon.
Farmer pointed to Northern Command’s website, which lists the status of National Guard troop deployments across the country and said it was updated an hour before Kotek’s statement. In Oregon, it says 100 members of the state’s guard have been demobilized and are being sent to Texas to complete that process.
The remaining 100 soldiers are still in Oregon, and “remain activated,” she told OPB, and said they were trying to “untangle” Kotek’s statement.
OPB also reached out to the Oregon Military Department for clarification, which directed all inquiries about the federalized guard troops to U.S. Northern Command.
U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut issued a permanent injunction Nov. 7, blocking the troop deployment.
As part of her ruling, Immergut ordered any federalized Oregon National Guard troops to be returned to state control by Friday, Nov. 21. That is now on hold, after the 9th Circuit’s ruling.
In the emergency appeal to the 9th Circuit on Sunday, attorneys for the Trump administration said they were planning to extend the Oregon National Guard’s deployment.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.