DC Sues Trump Administration Over National Guard Deployment

World

Washington, DC, officials have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing the president of violating the Constitution and federal law by deploying thousands of National Guard troops into the city without the consent of local leaders.

The complaint, filed Thursday by DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, claims that many of the troops – brought in from out-of-state – have been deputized by the US Marshals Service and are carrying out policing functions such as patrolling neighborhoods, conducting searches, and making arrests. Federal law generally prohibits the military from acting as local law enforcement.

The lawsuit argues that the deployment undermines the District’s autonomy, erodes public trust, and damages the economy by discouraging tourism and hurting businesses.

“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 in a statement. “It’s DC today but could be any other city tomorrow. We’ve filed this action to put an end to this illegal federal overreach.”

President Donald Trump ordered the deployment on August 11 as part of his anti-crime initiative in the capital, which has also included sending in federal officers from other agencies and attempting to assert greater federal control over the city’s police department.

As of Tuesday, 2,290 National Guard troops had been assigned to the mission, including 1,340 from six Republican-led states. Many of them have been instructed to carry weapons. The lawsuit claims the city has suffered “severe and irreparable sovereign injury” from what it describes as an unlawful military occupation.

“No American jurisdiction should be involuntarily subjected to military occupation,” the complaint states, asking the US District Court for DC for declaratory and injunctive relief.

The Trump administration has defended the deployments, pointing to a sharp drop in violent crime since the surge of federal officers. Critics, however, including DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, argue the deployment is unnecessary and costly, with taxpayers covering an estimated $1 million a day for troops who have been seen picking up trash, laying mulch, and posing for photographs with tourists.

Bowser, who has strongly opposed the deployments, issued an executive order this week requiring the city to coordinate closely with federal law enforcement. She later clarified that the move was designed to give the administration and congressional Republicans an off-ramp to scale back their presence in the capital.