Portland city councilors stand by calls for National Guard orders to be violated

Portland City Councilor Mitch Green reaffirmed his call for National Guard troops to reject deployment orders, responding to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s assertion that Guardsmen must follow the chain of command regardless of her personal objections.

“I respectfully disagree with the wording in the oath of service,” Green told CNN on Tuesday.

“The oath of service says that you are bound to obey the Constitution. You will protect and serve the Constitution. Your duty is to the Constitution, and there may come a time when you are faced with an order from your chain of command that is illegal,” he said.

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Federal agents, including Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and police officers, Oct. 6, 2025, in downtown Portland, Ore. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tries to detain protesters outside a facility. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“Any Soldier or Air Force or Marine has to make a decision based on their moral compass whether or not you follow that order at that moment,” he added.

Previously green Called up National Guard members are said to have a “duty” to “disobey” any “unlawful orders”.

He told CNN that he had never turned down a deployment or order while in the military, but noted that he had “never faced a clearly illegal order to deploy to an American city.”

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President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on Oct. 6. Speaking in 2025, Washington, DC Trump has pushed for the deployment of National Guard troops to many blue cities in an effort to reduce crime. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Green’s recent comments came a day after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down two temporary restraining orders (TROs). National Guard deployed to Portland.

Because the decision did not extend to either command, Kotek argued that a National Guard member in Oregon or any other state “may not deploy” until the other is repealed. NPR reports.

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Govt. Tina Kotek, D-Ore. has opposed the Trump administration’s efforts to deploy the National Guard to Portland. (AP Photo/Craig Micheldyre, File)

Green said neither he nor his office has heard directly from military members, but said veterans with ties to active-duty military have reported “confusion,” claiming many “wonder if they signed up for this.”

“I expect that in the coming days, in the coming weeks, when the military shows up, if that’s the case… that, every morning, the military will wake up and think, ‘Is this really consistent with the Constitution?'”

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Green added that he is “100% ready” to connect soldiers who choose to defy the order with resources that exist to help soldiers navigate the legal risks associated with their decision.

“The National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force has a website and a pager that service members are allowed to keep as a pamphlet, a copy on their person that connects them to resources,” he said.

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“Obviously, it’s a legal risk that they have to take, but they’re not alone in the community of people who have made that decision, and we stand by them,” Green added.