Judge Says Trump's D.C. Guard Deployment Illegal

A U.S. federal judge ruled Thursday that the Department of War’s deployment of National Guard forces to Washington, D.C. was illegal, according to the statement posted in the D.C. District Court database.

The judge stayed the effect of the ruling until Dec. 11, as stated in the same court filing released Thursday afternoon.

The case arose from President Donald Trump’s Aug. 11 declaration of a “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital, a move the administration defended in its submissions to the database as authorized under the D.C. Home Rule Act.

The government’s court filings show that nearly 2,300 National Guard troops from D.C. and seven states were activated and placed under a federal chain of command through the Department of War.

Those filings further indicate that the U.S. Marshals Service deputized the Guard units to conduct arrests, street patrols, searches, and seizures across D.C.

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb filed suit on Sept. 4, arguing in his complaint that the operation amounted to an involuntary military occupation in violation of federal law.

The complaint, published in the database, asserted that the deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act by using federally controlled troops for domestic policing.

The filing argued that the move breached D.C.'s right to self-government under the Home Rule Act by bypassing mayoral authority and sidelining the Metropolitan Police Department.

Schwalb’s complaint stated that the Guard units, despite being drawn from multiple states, operated under federal rather than gubernatorial control once activated for the mission.

The legal dispute centered on whether the president possessed authority to federalize and deploy out-of-state Guard units into Washington, D.C., for direct civilian law-enforcement duties, according to the court’s summary of issues.

The judge examined the administration’s claim that emergency powers under the Home Rule Act permitted such federal intervention without the participation of D.C. government institutions, as reflected in the order’s discussion section.

In the ruling released Thursday, the judge concluded that the administration exceeded its lawful authority in deploying the Guard for police functions inside D.C.

The order stated that the deployment, as structured and executed, violated statutory limits on federal military involvement in domestic enforcement activities.

The judge wrote that the stay until Dec. 11 was necessary to allow the government time to adjust its security operations and plan for the withdrawal or restructuring of the deployment.

The court’s docket shows that both sides were directed to submit status updates before the stay expires.