OAN Staff Blake Wolf
11:10 AM – Thursday, September 4, 2025
Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing the Trump administration over its decision to deploy the National Guard in the special district, describing the move as an unconstitutional “involuntary military occupation.”
The lawsuit, which is the second filed by Schwalb since President Donald Trump announced his administration’s plan to tackle the crime emergency in the nation’s capital last month, argues that the 47th president overstepped his authority by deploying nearly 2,300 National Guard troops.
Schwalb also argues that the deployment of the National Guard went against the wishes of the mayor, violating D.C.’s autonomy under the Home Rule Act, which grants limited self-governance to the District of Columbia (D.C.).
“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 noted in a statement.
“No American city should have the U.S. military — particularly out-of-state military who are not accountable to the residents and untrained in local law enforcement — policing its streets. It’s D.C. today, but could be any other city tomorrow. We’ve filed this action to put an end to this illegal federal overreach,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has maintained that the highly successful operation was implemented to safeguard D.C. residents amid persistent violent crime, emphasizing that the National Guard’s role is limited to protecting federal property and serving as a deterrent, rather than participating directly in law enforcement activities.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson later stated that the 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.”
The lawsuit mirrors a case filed in California, which contended that Trump’s federalization of the California National Guard for deployment to Los Angeles in June was unconstitutional. The Trump administration, however, maintained that the deployment aimed to protect federal property during violent anti-ICE riots.
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer, ruled earlier this week that the federal government’s decision to federalize and deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, although the White House has plans to appeal the ruling. Breyer was appointed by Democrat President Bill Clinton.
The Trump administration is also expected to extend the temporary deployment of the National Guard in D.C. through December, according to a Washington Post report.
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