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WASHINGTON, D.C. – America First Legal (AFL), in partnership with Boyden Gray PLLC, has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. Illinois, urging it to overturn the lower court’s decision and uphold President Trump’s constitutional and statutory authority to federalize the Illinois National Guard, protect federal officers, and restore order in Chicago. AFL previously filed a brief in Trump v. Illinois in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois defending the same constitutional authority.
For more than two centuries, the Supreme Court has recognized that the President’s decision to call forth the National Guard is not reviewable in court. Yet the State of Illinois and its officials have invited courts to do exactly what the U.S. Constitution forbids—second-guess the Commander in Chief’s lawful judgment to act when local authorities will not or cannot.
AFL’s brief makes clear that under 10 U.S.C. § 12406, the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Martin v. Mott, the President alone has the authority to determine when the “regular forces” are insufficient to enforce federal law. That judgment belongs solely to the Executive and cannot be reviewed by any court. The President is not an “agency” subject to judicial oversight—he is the Constitution’s ultimate guarantor of law and order.
The record in Chicago underscores why federal action was necessary. On September 27, thirty federal agents were surrounded by protesters. When they called for help, a Chicago Police Department dispatcher replied that “no units would respond.” City officials have openly admitted that demonstrators were “breaking the law” and obstructing federal agents. When local enforcement collapses, the President’s duty to act is clear and necessary.
This case is not about expanding presidential power—it is about restoring constitutional order and the rule of law to a city that has encouraged lawlessness simply because its officials oppose the President’s agenda. The Supreme Court should reverse the lower court’s overreach, reaffirm President Trump’s exclusive Article II authority, and make clear that state officials and courts may not obstruct the federal government’s ability to execute the law.
“The President of the United States has both the duty and the power to protect federal officers and uphold the rule of law,” said Gene Hamilton, President of America First Legal. “When local officials stand down and lawlessness takes hold, the Constitution gives the President—not the courts—the authority to act. AFL is proud to defend that authority. The Supreme Court should end Illinois’ unconstitutional interference once and for all.”
Read the full brief here.
Read AFL’s district court amicus brief here.
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