D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Thursday that he is suing the Trump administration to halt the deployment of National Guard troops in the District.
His lawsuit comes amid reports that the deployment of about 950 D.C. National Guard troops has been extended to December.
Mr. Schwalb said on social media that the deployment of 2,300 National Guard personnel violates the 1973 Home Rule Act, which allows the District to govern itself, and the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which bars the use of the military for civilian law enforcement.
“National Guardsmen have been deputized by the US Marshals to perform law enforcement functions in DC. That includes the authority to execute warrants, detain people, and make arrests. Some Guardsmen were ordered to carry firearms and conduct armed patrols in residential areas,” Mr. Schwalb posted on X.
The Trump administration says the use of the National Guard in the nation’s capital falls within the president’s legal authority.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Associated Press that “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.”
SEE ALSO: Trump appeals court ruling against his troop deployment in Los Angeles
The suit is the second Mr. Schwalb’s office has filed against the Trump administration over the federal deployment since it began.
President Trump declared an emergency over crime in the District on Aug. 11 and deployed the National Guard shortly thereafter, citing a 2024 murder rate of over 27 people per 100,000 residents and a vehicle theft rate of over 842 thefts per 100,000 residents.
“D.C. has been under siege from thugs and killers, but now, D.C. is back under Federal Control where it belongs. The White House is in charge. The Military and our Great Police will liberate this City, scrape away the filth, and make it safe, clean, habitable and beautiful once more!,” Mr. Trump posted Aug. 13 on Truth Social.
U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Thursday that since the administration’s surge began, there have been 1,841 arrests and 188 guns seized.
The National Guard presence in the District includes the city’s own troops under the direct command of the president and those from states including Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia.
The District’s Metropolitan Police Department is also working with federal forces to support the Trump administration’s anti-crime initiative.
On Tuesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an order creating the Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center to coordinate the city’s response with the president’s Safe and Beautiful Task Force, created by executive order in March, and the ongoing state of emergency.
Ms. Bowser’s order mentioned coordinated efforts with and shared resources between city law enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Office; the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Secret Service; the U.S. Park Police and U.S. Capitol Police. But it made no mention of the National Guard.
On Wednesday, Ms. Bowser said at a press conference that her order “lays out a framework for how we exit the emergency. The emergency ends on September 10th. The only way it can be extended legally is by the Congress. … We have a framework to request or use federal resources in our city. We don’t need a presidential emergency.”
Ms. Bowser has previously praised the Trump administration’s intervention, noting on Aug. 27 that “the federal surge has had a significant [impact] on crime in Washington D.C. and we greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city.”
In a report, the mayor’s office pointed out that over the first 20 days of the federal surge, the District saw 87% fewer carjackings compared with the same period in 2024, a 45% year-over-year drop in violent crimes over the same period and a 12% drop in all property crimes.
Mr. Trump also praised Ms. Bowser’s cooperative attitude towards the federal surge.
The president wrote Monday on Truth Social that “Mayor Muriel Bowser of D.C. has become very popular because she worked with me and my great people in bringing CRIME down to virtually NOTHING in D.C. Her statements and actions were positive, instead of others,” such as Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland.
Other District elected officials have blasted the Trump administration’s anti-crime surge.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s non-voting representative in the House, said at a press conference Wednesday that “despite historically low crime and for purposes opposed by eight out of ten D.C. residents, President Trump declared a ‘crime emergency’ … President Trump has used D.C. residents as props in a political play to showcase his own power.”
District At-Large Councilmember Robert White called out Ms. Bowser for cooperating with the administration in a release Wednesday, calling it a “surrender.”
“I am calling on residents to join me in demanding action to protect our city and our democracy. We must rescind the Mayor’s executive order that authorizes indefinite maximum coordination with federal forces. … And we must tell the truth: Washington, D.C. is under siege and silence is complicity. I will not be silent. I will not bow to fear. I will not surrender our city or our democracy,” Mr. White wrote.
Previously, on Aug. 11, the city council called into question the entire justification for the federal surge.
“This is a manufactured intrusion on local authority,” the council wrote in a statement posted online by D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. “Violent crime in the District is at the lowest rates we’ve seen in 30 years. … the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard’s role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District. Calling out the National Guard is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission.”
Mr. Mendelson, Ms. Pirro, Ms. Norton and Ms. Bowser have not responded to requests for comment on Mr. Schwalb’s latest lawsuit.
The administration’s use of National Guard troops in other cities has run into legal roadblocks. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in California ruled Tuesday that Mr. Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles in June was a violation of the federal Posse Comitatus Act.
The Trump administration has appealed Judge Breyer’s ruling.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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