Judge Orders End to D.C. National Guard Deployment — 21-Day Stay Allows Appeal

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to end its months-long deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., concluding the president’s actions unlawfully intruded on the authority of local officials to direct law enforcement. The court, however, temporarily stayed the order for 21 days to allow the administration to appeal.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb found that, while the president has authority to protect federal property and functions, he cannot unilaterally convert the D.C. National Guard into a tool for general crime control or summon Guard troops from other states without respecting local authority.

Legal Challenge and Responses

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb brought the lawsuit seeking to bar the White House from deploying Guard units in the District without the consent of the D.C. mayor while the case proceeds. Dozens of states filed briefs in the case, generally aligning along partisan lines.

Brian Schwalb: "Normalizing the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement sets a dangerous precedent, where the President can disregard states’ independence and deploy troops wherever and whenever he wants — with no check on his military power."

The White House defended the deployments. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the president is acting within his lawful authority to protect federal assets and to assist law enforcement with specific tasks, calling the lawsuit harmful to D.C. residents and an obstacle to efforts to reduce violent crime.

Scope of the Deployments

In August, the president declared a crime emergency in Washington. Within weeks, more than 2,300 National Guard personnel from eight states and the District were operating in the city under the command of the Secretary of the Army, and hundreds of federal agents were also deployed to assist patrols.

The administration has pursued similar deployments elsewhere — sending Guard forces to Los Angeles and seeking to send troops to Chicago and Portland, Oregon — prompting several legal challenges. A federal appeals court allowed the Los Angeles deployment to proceed. In Portland, a federal judge ruled the president lacked authority to call up and deploy Guard units; that decision is on appeal. The Supreme Court is weighing an emergency appeal related to a proposed deployment around Chicago tied to an immigration enforcement operation, with a lower court having blocked the move.

Additional Issues and Next Steps

The administration designated Guard members in Washington as special deputies of the U.S. Marshals Service. Schwalb’s office argues that out-of-state troops are effectively operating as a federal military police force in the city, heightening tensions with residents and diverting resources from local policing priorities.

Attorneys for the District warned in filings that the continued deployments harm the city’s sovereign authority to manage its own law enforcement. Justice Department lawyers countered that Congress authorized presidential oversight of the D.C. National Guard and urged against an injunction.

With the judge’s 21-day stay in place, the deployment will remain while the administration considers an appeal. If the stay is lifted or reversed, Guard troops would be required to withdraw pending further rulings.