The District of Columbia is taking President Donald Trump to court over his decision to flood Washington with National Guard troops.
Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed the lawsuit Thursday, calling the deployment of more than 1,000 troops an unlawful overreach.
“No American jurisdiction should be involuntarily subjected to military occupation,” Schwalb wrote, arguing the move violates both federal law and D.C.’s Home Rule Act, the 1973 measure signed by President Richard Nixon granting the district limited self-government.
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The White House quickly reacted. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended Trump’s actions, saying, “This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of D.C. residents and visitors — to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in D.C.”
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Trump has touted the weeks-long surge as a crime-fighting success and signaled his intention to send National Guard units into cities such as Chicago and Baltimore, despite local opposition. In Washington, Mayor Muriel Bowser has acknowledged a drop in offenses such as carjackings but cautioned that crime was already trending down before the Guard’s arrival.
Bowser said her administration is now focused on preparing for the end of the emergency order, which expires September 10 unless extended by Congress. Her plan emphasizes closer coordination with federal law enforcement agencies that remain active in the city.
However, criticism continues to mount. At a “Federal Forces Out Now” rally on Capitol Hill, D.C. Councilmember Robert White said his children view the troops not as protectors but as a threat.
“They are here to catch them, to condemn them, to take away their rights,” he said. “When history is written about this moment we will have to justify what we did and did not do. I’m not prepared to say that I capitulated. I’m prepared to stay the course. I’m not prepared to say I went along to get along.”
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He urged city leaders and Congress to resist what he called an “authoritarian takeover of our city.”
The legal challenge marks Schwalb’s second lawsuit against the Trump administration since the president asserted control over D.C.’s police department and expanded the Guard’s presence. His case comes just days after a federal judge in California ruled Trump’s deployment of Guard troops to Los Angeles during immigration protests was illegal, a decision that, while not binding in Washington, could shape the outcome here.
Members of the D.C. National Guard have already had their orders extended through December, a signal that the deployment is unlikely to wind down soon. Meanwhile, several Republican-led states have reinforced the ranks by sending their own Guard units into the capital, further inflaming tensions over federal authority in the nation’s capital.
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