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The Supreme Court this week refused to stay a lower court order that blocked President Trump from federalizing Illinois National Guard forces to protect federal immigration officers around Chicago, a decision that will frustrate every American who believes the federal government has an obligation to protect its personnel and enforce the law. The unsigned order made plain that, at least for now, the Court is not going to bless the administration’s chosen path for restoring order in Democrat-run cities where federal agents are under daily assault.
At the heart of the Court’s reasoning was a narrow statutory reading: the term “regular forces” in the federal statute likely refers to the United States military, and the government failed to identify a statutory source that would allow the military to “execute the laws” in Illinois under the Posse Comitatus framework. In short, the Court said the administration did not meet its burden to show that federal military forces could lawfully be used in this context, and therefore Section 12406(3) was not the vehicle the White House claimed it was.
Conservatives should be furious, but not surprised, that the Court tied one hand behind the President’s back while radical mayors and governors thumb their noses at law and order. The justices left open other avenues — notably the Insurrection Act and the President’s protective powers — meaning the fight isn’t over and the administration still has lawful tools to defend federal officers and property. That fact matters: the judiciary may punt on a political problem, but it cannot erase the real-world need to stop violent mobs from intimidating federal personnel.
Let’s be honest about who’s to blame for the mess that forced this confrontation: left-wing city governments that refuse help, prosecutors who decline to hold violent agitators accountable, and a media class that applauds disruption when it targets federal enforcement actions. Americans who pay taxes and obey the law deserve better than performative virtue signaling while ICE agents are boxed in and buildings are vandalized. If Democrats want to run sanctuary cities, they should stop asking the federal government to police the consequences when their policies fail.
The legal reality the Court hinted at is that the Insurrection Act remains a blunt but legitimate option — it authorizes the President to use regular military forces (or federalize the Guard) to suppress insurrection or domestic violence when necessary, and it expressly carves out Posse Comitatus limitations. If the administration believes state and local officials refuse to secure the area or federal officers face genuine danger, invoking the Insurrection Act is a constitutionally defensible course that would put principle ahead of permissive courts and weak-kneed local leaders.
Patriots should demand two things now: that the President exercise every lawful authority to protect federal officers and that Republican lawmakers stop cowering and pass clear statutory fixes so the next time the Left turns cities into lawless zones there is no ambiguity about federal authority. This ruling doesn’t end the fight — it just shifts it to the political arena where conservatives must win, and fast, to defend order, protect citizens, and restore the rule of law in America.
