Washington, DC officials are suing the Trump administration, claiming President Donald Trump broke the Constitution and federal law by sending thousands of National Guard troops into the city without local approval.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, says many of the troops came from other states, were deputized by the US Marshals Service, and are now patrolling neighborhoods, conducting searches, and making arrests. Federal law usually bars the military from acting as local police.
Schwalb argued that the deployment hurts the city’s independence, damages trust between residents and law enforcement, and harms the economy by driving away tourists and customers.
“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 Trump announced the troop deployment on August 11 as part of his anti-crime plan in the capital, which also included sending more federal officers from other agencies and attempting to take over the city’s police department.
Since then, Guard members from six Republican-led states have been sent to DC and ordered to carry weapons. As of Tuesday, 2,290 National Guard troops were assigned to the mission — 1,340 of them from other states.
The lawsuit says the city has suffered a “severe and irreparable sovereign injury” from the deployment.
“No American jurisdiction should be involuntarily subjected to military occupation,” the complaint reads. It asks the US District Court for DC to stop the deployment, repair the damage, and protect the city’s authority.
At a press conference Thursday, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declined to endorse the lawsuit and directed questions to the attorney general’s office.
“What’s fair to say is that my 100% focus is on exiting the emergency, and that’s where all of our energies are,” she said.
Bowser has long criticized the Guard deployment, but her more cautious approach contrasts with the lawsuit. She has tried to avoid provoking Trump while limiting federal interference in city affairs.
The White House said the lawsuit is an effort to weaken Trump’s crime-fighting push.
“President Trump is well within his lawful authority to deploy the National Guard in Washington D.C. to protect federal assets and assist law enforcement with specific tasks,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told CNN in a statement.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt, at the detriment of DC residents and visitors, to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in DC,” Jackson added.
The DC National Guard announced Thursday that orders for troops in the city have been extended through November 30. CNN previously reported the extension was expected to last through December to maintain benefits for Guard members.
The Trump administration has praised the deployment, pointing to a sharp drop in violent crime since more federal officers arrived. Critics, including Bowser, argue the mission is unnecessary and expensive, costing taxpayers about $1 million a day. Troops have also been spotted taking photos with tourists, picking up trash, and spreading mulch.
This week, Bowser signed an executive order requiring the city to coordinate with federal law enforcement indefinitely. Some progressive groups saw this as giving in to Trump, but Bowser said the order was meant to provide an “off-ramp” for scaling back federal control.
“I want the message to be clear to the Congress: We have a framework to request or use federal resources in our city. We don’t need a presidential emergency,” Bowser said Wednesday. She stressed that protecting DC’s independence remains her “north star.”
The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration prepares for a major immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, with Trump pledging to send in National Guard troops, though he has not announced when.
Unlike other cities, Trump has direct control over the DC National Guard because the District is not a state. This gives the federal government more authority in directing local troops.
Schwalb’s lawsuit follows another recent case in California, where a federal judge ruled that Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth broke the law by using the US military for law enforcement in Los Angeles earlier this summer.
In June, Trump sent 2,000 National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines into Los Angeles — against the wishes of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom — to stop immigration protests.
Schwalb also sued last month after Attorney General Pam Bondi tried to install an emergency police commissioner to replace DC’s police chief. The Trump administration later dropped the takeover attempt but kept powers to request services from local police during the federal emergency, which will expire next week unless Congress extends it.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are considering legislation that would change criminal justice policies in DC and remove Schwalb from office, replacing him with a presidential appointee.
