A federal judge ruled today that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard troops to Washington, DC was illegal.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb said that while Trump may be the commander in chief of the Guard, his power is constrained by federal laws that limit how those troops can be federalized and deployed, particularly in Washington, D.C., which is controlled by Congress.
“The Court rejects Defendants’ fly-by assertion of constitutional power, finding that such a broad reading of the President’s Article II authority would erase Congress’s role in governing the District and its National Guard,” Cobb wrote in a 61-page ruling.
Judge Cobb paused the ruling until Dec. 11 to allow the administration to appeal the decision. The White House responded, saying Trump’s actions in DC has successfully lowered crime.
“President Trump is well within his lawful authority to deploy the National Guard in Washington, DC, to protect federal assets and assist law enforcement with specific tasks,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Post in response to the judge’s order.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of DC residents — to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in DC.”
DC’s Attorney General, Brian L. Schwalb, disagreed.
“From the beginning, we made clear that the U.S. military should not be policing American citizens on American soil. Normalizing the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement sets a dangerous precedent, where the President can disregard states’ independence and deploy troops wherever and whenever he wants – with no check on his military power,” said Attorney General Schwalb. “This unprecedented federal overreach is not normal, or legal. It is long past time to let the National Guard go home – to their everyday lives, their regular jobs, their families, and their children.”
The judge’s decision, which you can read here, is focused on whether or not Trump has the authority to deploy the National Guard for law enforcement purposes:
In this opinion, the Court addresses two of the District’s statutory arguments under the APA and finds that it is likely to succeed on the merits of both. First, the DOD Defendants have exceeded the bounds of their authority under Title 49 of the D.C. Code, and thus acted contrary to law, in deploying the DCNG for non-military, crime-deterrence missions in the absence of a request from the city’s civil authorities.
We’ll have to wait and see if a higher court agrees with Judge Cobb about that. Meanwhile, there is no question that crime in DC is down sharply this year. The Washington Post maintains a DC homicide tracker which shows homicides are on track for the lowest number the city has seen since 2017.
DC’s own crime statistics show big drops this year for all violent crime compared to the same time last year (last year’s numbers had already dropped compared to 2023).
- Homicide is down 28%.
- Sex abuse is down 37%.
- Assault with a dangerous weapon is down 11%.
- Robbery is down 35%.
- Total violent crime is down 28%.
- Burglary is down 27%.
- Motor vehicle theft is down 19%.
- Total property crime is down 13%.
It’s all good news. You’d probably be hearing a lot more about it if Trump weren’t involved.
So far, it appears that Mayor Bowser hasn’t said anything about today’s ruling. Bowser has played this relatively smart compared to many Mayors and Governors who’ve made a big show of objecting to Trump. This summer, as the first evidence came in that crime in the city was dropping, Bowser actually thanked the president.
President Trump ordered a sweeping crime crackdown that brought National Guard troops to the city and paired federal immigration officers with local police. Bowser drew criticism during an August press conference, when she publicly praised parts of the federal effort. “We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city,” she said in televised remarks. “We know that when carjackings go down, when use of guns goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer.”
She was of course correct. Lower crime is good news for the city and its residents. Anyone who would object to good news because Trump, is probably missing the point. But Bowser’s goal was always to maintain the city’s independence so now doubt she’s happy about this result.
So far, President Trump hasn’t tweeted about this either. I expect we’ll hear more about this soon.
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