Republican Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, a strong ally of President Donald Trump, has become the first major GOP leader to question the administration’s growing use of the National Guard to tackle domestic unrest.
Stitt, who chairs the National Governors Association, voiced unease over the federal deployments in an interview Thursday, arguing that they undermine the balance of power between states and Washington.
“We believe in the federalist system — that’s states’ rights,” he told The New York Times.
Stitt added that residents in his state “would lose their mind” if Illinois Governor JB Pritzker decided to send troops into Oklahoma during the Biden administration.
The Trump administration has recently deployed National Guard units to Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, to reinforce local authorities grappling with crime surges. Data from the D.C. Metropolitan Police suggest crime has declined since the troops arrived.
Americans voted for a law and order President, and President Trump is following through.
Great talking with the White House today about our success with Operation Guardian and how important it is to keep the pressure on blue cities. pic.twitter.com/5rzMjIEUqd
— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) October 10, 2025
In another effort to curb urban violence, the Texas National Guard was sent to Chicago at Trump’s direction.
However, that deployment was halted Thursday after a federal judge blocked the legal justification for the move, at least temporarily.
In a similar lawsuit on the other side of the country, a Justice Department attorney defended the president’s decision to send about 200 National Guard soldiers to Portland, Oregon, following unrest near an ICE facility.
The government maintained that violent protests targeting immigration officers and federal property warranted the action.
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“For months, the ICE facility in Portland and the federal law enforcement officers who work there have faced a steady stream of violence, threats of violence and harassment from violent agitators bent on impeding federal immigration enforcement,” attorney Eric McArthur said in court.
McArthur argued that Trump’s use of the so-called rebellion statute gave him authority to federalize Guard units in such cases and asserted that courts should not interfere with the president’s judgment regarding military necessity.
Administration lawyers cited an 1890 Supreme Court ruling, Neagle v. Cunningham, which held that presidents may take necessary steps under the Constitution’s Take Care Clause to ensure enforcement of federal law.
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Legal challenges over Trump’s Guard deployments could soon reach the Supreme Court, particularly if lower courts rule against the administration.
The outcome could reshape the balance between federal and state authority on law enforcement matters.
Trump’s orders have fueled a public feud with Illinois’ Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, who accused the president of authoritarian behavior after Trump said Pritzker “should be in jail.”
“I will not back down,” Pritzker wrote in a post directed at the president on X.
“Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
Pritzker has repeatedly mocked Trump’s focus on Chicago crime. In a recent social media skit filmed in downtown Chicago, he appeared wearing a bulletproof vest and sarcastically described “war-torn” conditions.
Pretending to report from the scene, Pritzker joked about the Milwaukee Brewers “attacking” the Chicago Cubs, residents being “forced to eat hot dogs with ketchup,” and “deep dish pizza going shallow.”
Pritzker may draw laughs and applause on Kimmel, but the families of 356 homicide victims and 1,590 shot and maimed don't think his little stunt is amusing. pic.twitter.com/Qukifok0Rx
— Jen (@IlliniJen) October 10, 2025
He ended the clip by declaring, “there is no hellscape I’d rather be in.”
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration is doubling down on its presence in Chicago by expanding operations for federal immigration and law enforcement personnel.
During a cabinet meeting Thursday, she told Trump that new facilities were being purchased for DHS and ICE use.
“We’re purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of,” Noem said. “We’re not backing off. In fact, we’re doubling down and we’re going to be in more parts of Chicago in response to the people there.”
She added that she personally toured potential facilities and aimed to “deploy more law enforcement” from those locations to crack down on violent offenders.
At an immigration processing center in Broadview, Illinois, Noem reportedly told ICE and CBP officials, “We’re going to try to buy that building today,” while pointing toward a nearby property.
Governor Stitt, while generally supportive of Trump’s law-and-order agenda, said he disagreed with using Texas troops to intervene in another state’s affairs.
He argued that if the administration wanted to address crime in Illinois, it should have federalized the Illinois National Guard rather than rely on Texas forces.
“I was surprised that Governor Abbott sent troops from Texas to Illinois,” Stitt said, noting his past cooperation with the Texas governor.
“Abbott and I sued the Biden administration when the shoe was on the other foot and the Biden administration was trying to force us to vaccinate all of our soldiers and force masks across the country.”
Calling himself a firm believer in state sovereignty, Stitt added, “As a federalist believer, one governor against another governor, I don’t think that’s the right way to approach this.”
Stitt said he intends to speak directly with Abbott about the issue when the two meet this weekend at a college football game in Dallas.
“I’m sure it’ll come up,” he said, describing their relationship as friendly. “I would send troops to the southern border on his request, anytime he wanted them, and I know he would do the same for me.”
