Members of the Texas National Guard stand guard at an army reserve training facility on October 7, 2025 in Elwood, Illinois.
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The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the president to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois after lower courts blocked the deployment.
In the appeal filed on Friday by the Department of Justice, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that troops are needed in the Chicago area to “prevent ongoing and intolerable risks to the lives and safety” of federal agents. Thursday’s restraining order issued by a federal judge in Illinois, Sauer said, “improperly impinges on the President’s authority and needlessly endangers federal personnel and property.”
Trump has been arguing that Chicago — and several other Democratic-led cities — is lawless and in need military intervention to quell protests and protect federal immigration facilities.
He federalized the state National Guard against Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s wishes earlier this month. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also sent several hundred of his state’s troops to the Democratic-led state.
