The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration's emergency request to allow National Guard troops to be deployed in Chicago, marking a setback for the administration's attempts to curtail high crime rates in major cities.

President Donald Trump has sought to deploy the National Guard in Chicago in the face of aggressive pushback from the citizenry and local government over Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Windy City.

The court rejected the administration's interpretation of federal law regarding what constitutes "regular forces." 

The law allows a president to federalize the National Guard when he can no longer execute the laws of the United States with “regular forces," which the Trump administration characterized as federal agents such as ICE agents. However, the court ruled that "regular forces" likely meant the United States military.

“At this preliminary stage, the government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the court said in its unsigned order.

Three of the Supreme Court's conservative justices dissented from the majority: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. The ruling is a rare defeat for the administration given the court's 6-3 conservative majority.

“The court fails to explain why the president’s inherent constitutional authority to protect federal officers and property is not sufficient to justify the use of National Guard members in the relevant area for precisely that purpose,” Alito wrote in his dissent. “I am not prepared at this point to express a definite view on these questions, but I have serious doubts about the correctness of the court’s views.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.