Chicago, Illinois, is yet another city where Trump would love to see a crime crackdown take place, but local officials are fighting him tooth and nail.
To that point, when Trump announced that he wanted to deploy the National Guard there, the issue was immediately litigated.
That fight has just ended, with the Supreme Court ruling 6-3 against Trump, as two of the three justices Trump appointed, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts, sided with the liberals on the bench.
This fight goes back a few months, as Trump had Guard troops from Texas and Illinois hit the streets in October.
The move was not received well, with one resident calling it nothing more than a “publicity stunt” by Trump.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson took it a step further, calling out Congress and the Supreme Court for not stopping Trump. He stated, "They're aiding and abetting the dismantling of our democracy and our Constitution.”
He continued, "We'll use every single tool that's available to me. This is going to play out in the courts. It's going to play out on the streets."
As we noted above, Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker immediately fought the deployment, and the administration lost the early fight in the lower courts.
With the Supreme Court ruling pending, U.S. District Judge April Perry, a Joe Biden appointee, extended her block indefinitely until the Supreme Court made its final ruling.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer was livid, stating, “Every day this improper TRO remains in effect imposes grievous and irreparable harm on the Executive.”
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, had also blocked Trump, issuing a temporary restraining order against deploying the Guard in Oregon, as well as deploying National Guard troops from other states to Oregon.
When Trump was permitted to deploy the troops in D.C., a lot of people thought this would apply to other states, but it is apples and oranges because of the dynamic of D.C. that applies to no other city or state in the country.
My suspicions were true, as the court just ruled against Trump on this matter, with the majority ruling stating, “At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois. The President has not invoked a statute that provides an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act.” The Posse Comitatus Act is a 1878 law that prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. The exceptions are a violation of the Insurrection Act or an act of Congress.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch dissented, with Alito writing, “I am not prepared at this point to express a definite view on these questions, but I have serious doubts about the correctness of the Court’s views. And I strongly disagree with the manner in which the Court has disposed of this application.”
So, once again, the justices that Trump appointed have ruled against him, which is not going to sit well with MAGA, especially in the case of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. I have not yet seen a comment by Trump, but I am sure he is not going to be happy about this. The question then is whether he will accept the ruling or spit venom at his appointments.
