Demonstrators in Portland, Ore., protest on Oct. 4, 2025, against President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to the city. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Trump’s National Guard deployments reignite 200‑year‑old legal debate over state vs. federal power

The conflicts over President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois and Oregon hinge on a question as old as the Constitution itself: Where does federal power end and state authority begin?

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