Senate, House Democrats File Amicus Brief to Supreme Court Supporting Illinois’s Legal Challenge to Trump’s Use of National Guard

Senate, House Democrats File Amicus Brief to Supreme Court Supporting Illinois's Legal Challenge to Trump's Use of National Guard

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with House Democrats' Litigation Task Force, led by Task Force Chair Joe Neguse (D-CO-2), House Judiciary Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8), House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8), and House Armed Services Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA-9), spearheaded a group of 155 Senate and House Democrats in support of Illinois's legal challenge to President Trump's unwarranted National Guard deployment in Illinois.

Filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in Trump v. Illinois, the lawmakers urge the justices to deny President Trump's request to pause the temporary restraining order on deploying National Guard troops in Illinois. Amici were represented by the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL), a nonpartisan institute at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to preserving and promoting the rule of law in national security and democratic governance.

The lawmakers began by asserting Congress' interest in the matter, writing: "As members of Congress, Amici are well acquainted with their constitutionally assigned role of providing for the calling forth and regulation of militias pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clauses 15 and 16 of the U.S. Constitution. Amici take seriously their responsibilities as members of an equal branch of the federal government and seek to ensure that the executive does not unlawfully assert power that it does not inherently possess or that Congress has not appropriately delegated to it. As Members of Congress, Amici write to assert their views on the appropriate stance of federal courts towards congressional delegations of authority to the President regarding use of the National Guard."

The lawmakers then highlighted President Trump's abuse of executive power, writing: "In passing 10 U.S.C. § 12406, Congress made clear that the President does not have discretion over the circumstances in which he may federalize and deploy the National Guard domestically, contrary to Applicant's argument that the statute gives the President unfettered discretion."

The lawmakers then emphasized the courts' role in checking executive overreach, writing: "It is the duty of the federal courts to interpret the meaning of statutes enacted by Congress under its enumerated powers. Were it to abandon its traditional role of reviewing federal legislation, this Court would undercut Congress's constitutional prerogative to pass legislation, including legislation delegating authority to the President, and would grant an unprecedented level of deference to the executive branch. Fulfilling its duty to review legislation is particularly critical where the President invokes federal law to deploy the U.S. military on American soil and where such deployment implicates the constitutional rights of Americans. Whatever level of deference may be due the President in other contexts, far less is due when the executive branch deploys the military domestically during times of peace."

The lawmakers then admonish the Trump Administration for its disregard for our system of checks and balances, writing: "Applicant's argument that delegations of authority to the President are completely unreviewable by federal courts is more extreme still. President Trump's suggestion that the executive branch should be the sole arbiter of its own delegated authority ignores and disrespects Congress's right to legislate under its enumerated powers and would relegate this Court to an observer status. In the present context, where the President is attempting to deploy the military on domestic soil in contravention of clear statutory limits, it is critical for federal courts to exercise their constitutional responsibility to interpret and apply the law."

The lawmakers concluded: "[G]ranting an unwarranted level of deference to the President would abdicate the Court's constitutional responsibility to say what the law is and would undercut Congress's constitutional prerogative to enact statutory limits on the executive's use of the militia. Such an abdication of the Court's responsibility would be particularly problematic in the present context, where the constitutional rights of Americans and preservation of the Constitution's core system of federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances are at stake."

For a PDF copy of the brief, click here.

In addition to Durbin, the brief is signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Patty Murray (D-WA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Tina Smith (D-MN).

In addition to Neguse, Raskin, Jeffries, and Smith, the brief is also signed by U.S. Representatives Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-1), Robin Kelly (D-IL-2), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-2), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL-4), Mike Quigley (D-IL-5), Sean Casten (D-IL-6), Danny David (D-IL-7), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17), Pete Aguilar (D-CA-33), Gabe Amo (D-RI-1), Becca Balint (D-VT-AL), Nanette Barragan (D-CA-44), Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3), Wesley Bell (D-MO-1), Don Beyer (D-VA-8), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1), Julia Brownley (D-CA-26), Troy Carter (D-LA-2), Ed Case (D-HI-1), Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20), Judy Chu (D-CA-28), Katherine Clark (D-MA-5), Yvette Clarke (D-NY-9), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-5), Steve Cohen (D-TN-9), Herb Conaway (D-NJ-3), Lou Correa (D-CA-46), Joe Courtney (D-CT-2), Angie Craig (D-MN-2), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4), Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-10), Maxine Dexter (D-OR-3), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-37), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD-3), Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13), Dwight Evans (D-PA-3), Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-7), Laura Friedman (D-CA-30), Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), John Garamendi (D-CA-8), Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29), Dan Goldman (D-NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH-2), Jim Himes (D-CT-4), Steven Horsford (D-NV-4), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6), Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5), Jared Huffman (D-CA-2), Glenn Ivey (D-MD-4), Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7), Julie Johnson (D-TX-32), Hank Johnson (D-GA-4), William Keating (D-MA-9), Tim Kennedy (D-NY-26), Ro Khanna (D-CA-17), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), George Latimer (D-NY-16), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3), Mike Levin (D-CA-49), Sam Liccardo (D-CA-16), Ted Lieu (D-CA-36), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-18), Stephen Lynch (D-MA-8), Lucy McBath (D-GA-7), Betty McCollum (D-MN-4), Jim McGovern (D-MA-2), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-4), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), Greg Meeks (D-NY-5), Rob Menendez (D-NJ-8), Dave Min (D-CA-47), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23), Seth Moulton (D-MA-6), Joe Neguse (D-CO-2), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-12), Richard Neal (D-MA-1), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-AL), Johnny Olszewski (D-MD-2), Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5), Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-11), Brittany Pettersen (D-CO-7), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1), Nellie Pou (D-NJ-35), Emily Randall (D-WA-6), Luz Rivas (D-CA-29), Deborah Ross (D-NC-2), Andrea Salinas (D-OR-6), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5), Bobby Scott (D-VA-3), Brad Sherman (D-CA-32), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10), Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA-10), Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14), Mark Takano (D-CA-39), Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13), Bennie Thompson (D-MS-2), Mike Thompson (D-CA-4), Dina Titus (D-NV-1), Norma Torres (D-CA-35), Derek Tran (D-CA-45), Juan Vargas (D-CA-52), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY-7), James Walkinshaw (D-VA-11), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), Maxine Waters (D-CA-43), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12).

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