Overview
- The Court denied the administration’s emergency request, leaving a lower-court injunction in place that prevents federalizing Illinois National Guard troops while the case proceeds.
- An unsigned 6–3 opinion indicated that “regular forces” in 10 U.S.C. §12406(3) likely refers to the U.S. military, not civilian agencies such as ICE.
- Relying on the Posse Comitatus Act, the majority said the government had not identified authority that would allow the military to execute laws in Illinois at this stage and requested briefing on the statutory term.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred that the ruling could push future reliance on active-duty forces or the Insurrection Act, while Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissented.
- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker hailed the decision as a check on executive overreach, as Republicans and legal analysts warned it could instead pave the way for deploying units like the Marines or the 82nd Airborne.