Portland’s Surrender to Antifa Makes Federal Action Necessary
President Trump’s decision to honor Secretary Kristi Noem’s request for federal and National Guard troops to defend federal facilities in Portland is not merely permissible, it is obligatory under the Constitution and the Insurrection Act. For over 100 nights, federal buildings and employees in Portland have been targeted by Antifa-aligned insurgents who openly declare the federal government to be an enemy that must be toppled. They block entrances, trap workers, assault officers, and obstruct immigration enforcement at an ICE facility. Local and state officials have abdicated their responsibility to protect federal property and personnel, adopting a policy of passivity that has allowed these camps to grow, resupply, and endure. In such a scenario, the President does not have discretion to look away. He has a duty to act.
The legal framework is straightforward. The Insurrection Act empowers the President to deploy troops when insurrection, rebellion, or unlawful obstruction renders enforcement of US law impracticable. Courts have repeatedly treated the determination of whether such an insurrection exists as a “political question” reserved to the President. In Martin v. Mott (1827), the Supreme Court made clear that the President is the “exclusive judge” of whether an exigency exists that requires calling forth military force. No governor, no judge, not even Congress, may substitute their judgment for his on this threshold matter. Once the President declares that an insurrection or unlawful obstruction exists, the only remaining question is whether the deployment comports with statutory limits. Protecting federal property and staff is unquestionably within those limits.
The Posse Comitatus Act does not bar this deployment. That Act prevents the Army and Air Force, and by policy the other branches, from acting as domestic police except when expressly authorized. The Insurrection Act is precisely such an authorization. Once invoked, the PCA’s restriction falls away. Historical precedent confirms this. President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne into Little Rock in 1957 and federalized the Arkansas National Guard to enforce school desegregation against the will of state leaders. President George H. W. Bush deployed federal troops to Los Angeles in 1992 at the request of California officials to restore order. In both instances, protecting the execution of federal law was paramount. Portland today falls squarely within this tradition.
Critics may insist that the Portland unrest does not rise to the level of an insurrection. But this is not a legal test administered by judges, it is a factual determination entrusted to the President. The sustained, organized, and violent attacks on an ICE facility and its personnel, combined with the refusal of local authorities to intervene, clearly meet the statutory standard. Sections 252 and 253 of the Insurrection Act expressly empower the President to act unilaterally when state officials are unwilling or unable to secure federal functions or protect the rights of citizens. Portland’s leaders have stated outright that their police will not assist federal officers at the ICE facility. That posture, by itself, establishes the impracticability of enforcing federal law through normal means.
The Department of Homeland Security has borne the brunt of these attacks. For over three months, DHS officers, U.S. Marshals, and Border Patrol tactical teams have stood as the sole line of defense against nightly sieges. They have cleared roadways so employees can enter and leave. They have protected transport convoys moving detainees. They have endured assaults with lasers, fireworks, and projectiles. Fatigue has set in. Secretary Noem rightly concluded that DHS needed reinforcement. Her request to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was not a plea for political theater, but a professional assessment that more resources were needed to sustain the defense of federal property. The President, faced with such a request from his Homeland Security chief, was duty-bound to honor it.
It is tempting to view this as a clash between federal and local authority, but that framing misunderstands the Constitution. Federal property, federal officers, and federal functions exist independently of local control. No city or state can lawfully decide to expose them to mob rule. The Supremacy Clause guarantees that federal law is supreme and binding in every state. When local officials obstruct that supremacy by failing to protect federal functions, the President has the authority, indeed the obligation, to intervene. To fail in this duty would itself be a dereliction of his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.
Judges in California tried to restrain a similar deployment earlier this year, claiming that the situation did not amount to insurrection. The Ninth Circuit quickly stayed those rulings, recognizing that the President’s determination of insurrection is not subject to judicial veto. The courts may review how troops are used, ensuring compliance with statutory boundaries, but they may not second-guess whether an insurrection exists. That question belongs to the Commander-in-Chief alone. This principle is not new; it is woven deeply into the fabric of constitutional law.
One might ask whether deploying troops in Portland risks escalating tensions. Perhaps. But inaction carries its own risks. A government that cannot protect its employees or enforce its laws in the face of sustained attack ceases to function as a government. That is precisely why the Framers entrusted the President with this power. The alternative is paralysis. Portland’s leaders have chosen abdication. Trump has chosen action. The difference is the difference between government and anarchy.
If critics wish to argue that the Insurrection Act should be reformed, that is a debate for Congress. But under existing law, President Trump’s actions are not just defensible, they are compelled. The law does not merely permit him to protect federal property and staff under siege. It requires him to. Anything less would expose the federal workforce to violence and federal facilities to destruction, undermining the rule of law itself.
The American people deserve clarity. The President has the sole authority to determine when insurrection or unlawful obstruction exists. Portland’s 100-night siege against federal officers and property fits squarely within that definition. Secretary Noem asked for help. Secretary Hegseth prepared the forces. President Trump gave the order. The chain of command worked as designed. That is not tyranny. It is constitutional government in action.
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