Hearings focus on National Guard deployments in the nation’s capital and Memphis, Tennessee

Courts in Tennessee and West Virginia heard arguments Monday challenging the deployment of their states’ National Guard troops to patrol the streets of Memphis and Washington, D.C., respectively, as part of President Donald Trump’s push to send the military into Democratic-run cities.

Judges in West Virginia and Tennessee did not immediately issue decisions. Trump’s enforcement efforts have unleashed a whirlwind of lawsuits and overlapping court rulings.

Here’s what to know about the latest legal efforts on the issue:

Tennessee court addresses Guard deployment in Memphis

Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal in Nashville heard opposing takes about the governor’s authority to call the Guard.

The individual state and local Democratic officials contend in a lawsuit that Republican Gov. Bill Lee cannot deploy the Tennessee National Guard for civil unrest unless there is a rebellion or invasion, and even then, it would require action by state lawmakers. Another provision spells out a need for a request from a local government to use the Guard in a “breakdown of law and order,” they said.

The lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction to block the Guard’s current use in the Memphis mission.

In a legal filing last week, the state said the plaintiffs are misinterpreting how the Tennessee Constitution classifies the National Guard. Tennessee law gives the governor “the authority to dispatch the Guard when needed and to determine when that need exists,” the state added.

The state also argued that the plaintiff officials lacked legal standing to sue over the deployment and added that the issue is a political question, not one for the courts.

Josh Salzman, an attorney with Democracy Forward representing the plaintiffs, called the state’s arguments about the governor’s authority “really terrifying.”

After the hearing, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told reporters that “the argument is not that there’s no room for oversight,” saying that the Guard can’t do whatever it wants. “It’s that the determination of when the Guard should be brought out is statutorily left to the governor’s discretion.”

Since their arrival on Oct. 10, National Guard troops have been patrolling neighborhoods and commercial areas of Memphis, including near the iconic Pyramid in downtown, wearing fatigues and protective vests that say “military police.” Officials have said Guard members, who are armed, have no arrest power.

Trump announced in September that the National Guard would accompany authorities from a slew of federal agencies as part of the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force.

Democratic Mayor Paul Young, who is not involved in the lawsuit, said he never requested that the Guard come to Memphis. But after Trump made the announcement and Lee agreed, Young and others have said they wanted the task force to focus on targeting violent offenders.

The plaintiffs include Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, two county commissioners, one Memphis city councilman and three state lawmakers.

Since they arrived Sept. 29, the federal agencies have made more than 1,500 arrests and issued thousands of traffic citations, according to statistics provided by the U.S. Marshals Service. Arrests have been made on charges ranging from homicides and drug and weapons violations to immigration warrants. Lee has said the National Guard would “play a critical support role” for local law enforcement.

Young said earlier this month that operations include some 150 Guard members.

The Memphis Safe Task Force includes 31 partner agencies across different levels of government and more than 1,700 personnel, according to a court declaration by Chad Hunt, chief inspector with the United States Marshals Service and the task force’s commander.

Judge considers West Virginia deployment in D.C.

West Virginia is among several states that sent National Guard members to Washington, D.C., to support Trump’s crime-fighting efforts. Last month, a West Virginia judge asked attorneys for the state to address whether Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s deployment of up to 300 Guard members to the nation’s capital in August was legal.

A civic organization called the West Virginia Citizen Action Group says in a lawsuit that Morrisey exceeded his authority. Under state law, the group argues, the governor may deploy the National Guard out of state only for certain purposes, such as responding to a natural disaster or another state’s emergency request.

Morrisey’s office has argued the deployment was authorized under federal law.

After one witness for the plaintiff group testified Monday, the judge said the hearing would continue on Nov. 10.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Richard Lindsay in Charleston heard initial arguments in the case on Oct. 24. The civic group argued it was harmed by the deployment by being forced to refocus its resources away from government accountability and transparency.

The state attorney general’s office sought to reject the case, saying the group has not been harmed and lacked standing to challenge Morrisey’s decision. Lindsay rescheduled the hearing and ordered the state to focus on whether what Morrisey did was lawful.

The West Virginia National Guard has said its deployment could last until the end of November.

While Trump issued an executive order in August declaring a crime emergency in the nation’s capital, the U.S. Justice Department says violent crime there is at a 30-year low.

Within a month, more than 2,300 Guard troops from eight states and the district were patrolling under the Army secretary’s command. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist them.

Separately, a federal judge heard arguments Oct. 24 on District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb ’s request for an order that would remove National Guard members from Washington streets. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, did not rule from the bench.

Judge blocks the Guard’s use in Portland

The West Virginia and Tennessee hearings came after a federal judge on Sunday barred Trump’s administration from deploying the Guard to Portland, Oregon, until at least Friday, saying she “found no credible evidence” that protests in the city grew out of control before the president federalized the troops earlier this fall.