Hundreds of National Guard troops will leave Portland and Chicago

Juliana Kim

November 16, 2025 / 4:13 pm

The Defense Department is scaling back the number of federalized National Guard troops in Chicago and Portland, Ore., as weekslong court battles have stalled their deployments.

A defense official, not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed to NPR that 200 California National Guard members in Oregon and 200 Texas National Guard members in Illinois will return to their home states in the coming days. The troop withdrawals were first reported by ABC News .

On Friday night, the military's Northern Command hinted on X that changes were to come in order to "ensure a constant, enduring, and long-term presence in each city."

"Our troops in each city (and others) are trained and re

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