Washington, D.C., Sues to End Trump Administration’s National Guard Deployment
D.C. Attorney General files suit alleging unlawful military policing as the mayor orders continued coordination with federal agencies and Guard orders are extended through December
Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to end the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops and other federal forces to the city, saying the operation violates prohibitions on military involvement in local law enforcement and amounts to an involuntary military occupation.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the deployment — which he said includes thousands of out-of-state National Guard members — was neither requested nor consented to by District authorities and risks harming residents. "Deploying the National Guard to engage in law enforcement is not only unnecessary and unwanted, but it is also dangerous and harmful to the District and its residents," Schwalb said. A White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, said the president was acting within his "lawful authority" and called the lawsuit an attempt to undermine what the administration has described as a successful effort to reduce violent crime.
The suit challenges actions taken in early August after the president invoked a provision of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act that allows the federal government to assume control of local police in "conditions of an emergency nature." The federal operation has included more than 2,000 deployed federal personnel and, according to statements from the attorney general, about 2,300 National Guard members operating in the city. Defense Department officials have said authorization was later given for some soldiers and airmen to be armed when mission requirements dictate.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, issued an order this week directing the District to continue coordinating with federal law enforcement after the presidentially declared public safety emergency is set to expire. The mayor's order, which took effect immediately and contains no end date, keeps open the city's Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center to manage response and communications and to work with federal agencies including the FBI, U.S. Park Police, DEA, ATF and the Secret Service.
Federal officials and the White House have pointed to enforcement results since the operation began, saying more than 1,800 people have been arrested in the city. Administration figures released after a recent one-night operation said 81 arrests brought the total to 1,841 since early August; among the detained were individuals sought on homicide charges, people accused of sex-related crimes and others arrested on federal immigration and drug-related charges, officials said. Names of many arrested individuals have not been released because investigations remain active.
The lawsuit cites legal limits on military participation in domestic law enforcement, asserting that deploying soldiers and armed airmen to police city streets violates those prohibitions. Schwalb said the Posse Comitatus principle bars the military from acting as local police and asserted that Defense Department actions here contravene that principle. The complaint asks a court to halt the National Guard deployment and any federal action that places armed service members in roles traditionally reserved for civilian law enforcement.
The dispute has unfolded amid public demonstrations in the fourth week of the federal operation, with protesters gathering to challenge the presence of federal forces and National Guard troops in the capital. City officials have said they intend to press for coordination that protects residents' confidence during federal law enforcement encounters while continuing to pursue legal remedies.
The litigation marks a significant test of the boundaries between federal authority and local governance in the nation's capital, where Congress retains unique oversight and the District's autonomy is limited by federal law. The mayor's directive to keep the emergency operations center active and the reported extension of some National Guard orders through December — a step officials said would preserve benefits and pay for Guard members serving on the mission — suggest the operational posture in Washington could continue for months as the legal challenge proceeds.