(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
DC attorney general fights back against Trump’s military occupation [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2025-09-04
Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb is taking President Donald Trump to court—again.
On Thursday, Schwalb filed a lawsuit accusing Trump of violating the Constitution and federal law by flooding the city with thousands of National Guard troops without the consent of local leaders. He called the deployment an illegal “military occupation” that has effectively turned domestic troops into local police.
The complaint notes that National Guard members—many of whom come from out of state—have been deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service, carrying out neighborhood patrols, executing searches, and making arrests. That, Schwalb argues, violates federal law.
Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb
“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 to CBS News and other outlets. “It’s D.C. today but could be any other city tomorrow.”
This marks Schwalb’s second lawsuit since Trump declared a “crime emergency” in Washington on Aug. 11. He’s also requesting a federal court to order Trump to withdraw the troops and prevent similar deployments in the future.
Meanwhile, Trump has made the deployment a key part of his crime agenda, tying it to federal agent surges and new authority over Washington’s police. National Guard members have been instructed to carry weapons as part of the mission.
The National Guard troops in Washington are likely to have their military orders extended through December, ensuring that they keep full benefits.
Unlike governors in other states, Washington’s mayor has no authority over its National Guard, which answers solely to the president. But Schwalb’s lawsuit argues that Trump has gone beyond even that authority, using it as a de facto police force in violation of federal law.
Related |ICE official says Chicago's next on Trump’s military takeover list
The scale of the deployment is enormous: According to The Washington Post, nearly 2,300 National Guard members are currently stationed in the city, including 1,340 personnel from seven other states.
“No American jurisdiction should be involuntarily subjected to military occupation,” the lawsuit read.
But the White House quickly fired back. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson said that Trump was well within his rights.
“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,” Jackson said. “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.”
The Trump administration calls the operation a success, pointing to a drop in violent crime since last month. Critics, however, consider it costly and heavy-handed. Taxpayers are spending an estimated $1 million a day to keep troops in Washington. Meanwhile, some National Guard members have been seen taking selfies with tourists and picking up trash.
A National Guard member picks up trash in Washington, D.C.
Even Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has had to walk a fine line. This week, she issued an executive order requiring the city to coordinate with federal law enforcement indefinitely, which progressives blasted as giving Trump more power.
Bowser claims that the move was meant to provide the Trump administration and congressional Republicans a face-saving way to wind down the federal takeover.
“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,” she said Wednesday.
The legal battle in Washington comes as Trump is preparing similar crackdowns in cities like Chicago, pledging to send in the National Guard, though he hasn’t clarified when. Unlike Washington, Chicago would need to rely on state and local cooperation to make that happen.
Schwalb’s case also follows a significant legal loss for Trump in California earlier this week, when a federal judge ruled that he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated federal law by using federal troops for law enforcement in Los Angeles earlier this summer.
As Trump moves to roll out the Washington playbook in other Democratic-run cities, Schwalb’s lawsuit makes it clear that federal overreach won’t be tolerated. His lawsuit paints the National Guard deployment as a direct violation of the Constitution—not the crime-fighting effort Trump claims.
The bigger question, though, is whether the courts will step in before other cities’ streets are flooded with active-duty military troops.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/4/2341842/-DC-attorney-general-fights-back-against-Trump-s-military-occupation?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_7&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
