The Chamberlain Network Opposes Emergency Stay in Illinois National Guard Case
Atlanta, GA: The Chamberlain Network has filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court opposing the government’s request for a stay in the Illinois National Guard case (Trump v. Illinois, No. 25A443 (U.S. 2025)). Our message is straightforward: America’s strength depends on an apolitical military, clear legal guardrails, and disciplined restraint in any domestic use of uniformed force.
Why we filed.
Those who serve take an oath to the Constitution, not to a person or party. Veterans understand, from training and experience, that military and law-enforcement roles are different on purpose. Blurring that line—especially absent the extraordinary circumstances Congress spelled out—corrodes public trust, and compromises readiness. Our brief offers the Court the perspective of veterans who have worn the uniform and who know what it means, in practice, to send armed troops into civilian spaces.
The core principles at stake.
Statutory guardrails matter. Federalization under 10 U.S.C. § 12406 is a limited tool, conditioned on specific factual triggers. It is not a standing permission slip for domestic law-enforcement tasks.
Apolitical service is a national asset. Routine or unnecessary domestic deployments entangle the military in partisan fights and invite the public to view service members as political actors. That harms the force from the inside out—driving out some, self-selecting others, and weakening the military’s legitimacy with the people it serves.
Readiness and families count. The National Guard and active services are already stretched by overseas missions, disaster response, and training cycles. Adding domestic missions without a clear, lawful necessity strains units, families, and the skills we need for genuine emergencies.
Our position
America is safer when soldiers are not used as domestic police; when the National Guard’s apolitical nature is respected; and when courts enforce the limits Congress wrote. We ask the Court to deny the stay because granting it would normalize deployments that the statute does not authorize and that the country does not need.
About The Chamberlain Network.
We are a nonpartisan community of veterans who believe a strong military is an apolitical military. We organize, educate, and advocate so that those in uniform are never turned into instruments of domestic politics—and so that the public’s trust in our armed forces remains a unifying strength of this country.
Read our amicus brief: The Chamberlain Network & Military Veterans, Brief in Opposition to Stay Application (U.S. No. 25A443, Oct. 20, 2025).