Federal courtrooms on opposite sides of the country on Thursday served as stages for the ongoing showdown between Democratic-led cities and the Trump administration, as judges weighed whether the president is exceeding his authority by deploying National Guard troops to quell demonstrations outside ICE facilities near Chicago and Portland.

In a scathing oral ruling from Chicago, US District Court Judge April Perry granted a temporary restraining order halting the Trump administration’s deployment of soldiers in the state of Illinois for two weeks.

“I have seen no credible evidence that there has been rebellion in the state of Illinois” that would justify federalizing National Guard soldiers, Perry said, calling Department of Homeland Security assessments of the protests “unreliable.”

Sending in troops would “only add fuel to the fire,” Perry added. It’s unclear what the next steps will be for guardsmen already on the ground in the Chicago area. The Department of Defense told CNN troops “will remain in a federalized status” while the order is in force.

Meanwhile on the West Coast, a three-judge panel with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals considered whether the Trump administration should be blocked from federalizing the Oregon National Guard to respond to ICE protests in Portland. They have yet to release a decision, though state Attorney General Dan Rayfield said he expects a ruling “in the coming days.”

Though the hearings occurred thousands of miles apart, the arguments were eerily similar, pitching bo