Trump Administration Succeeds in Ousting Oregon Judge From Portland National Guard Case

The federal judge overseeing Oregon and Portland’s joint motion to reverse the deployment of National Guard troops to the city was reassigned on Thursday, after the Trump administration requested that he recuse himself due to his wife, Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici.

In a Suggestion of Recusal filed yesterday in the lawsuit brought by the State of Oregon to block Trump from seizing control of the National Guard tn Portland, which is set to be heard today, Trumps lawyers say that U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon shouldn’t be on the case because he is married to Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, who has publicly spoken out against the deployment.

The Trump administration says Judge Simon’s recusal would “avoid the appearance of partiality, which reasonably can be expected to undermine public confidence in the fairness of these proceedings.”

Federal rules require judges to disqualify themselves in proceedings in which their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. This includes circumstances where they have personal knowledge of disputed evidence, a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or if they or their spouse or any child in their household has a financial interest in the matter.

Judge Simon recused himself on Thursday, stating that although he does not believe recusal is required under either federal law or the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, he has recused himself because the focus of this lawsuit must remain on the critically important constitutional and statutory issues presented by the parties.

Shortly thereafter, the U.S. District Court of Oregon announced the case had been reassigned to Judge Karin Immergut, who was nominated as a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Oregon in 2019 by President Trump.