Topline
Washington, D.C.’s attorney general sued the Trump administration and the military Thursday, claiming that sending the National Guard to patrol the nation’s capital earlier this year violated federal law prohibiting the military from being used in domestic law enforcement—echoing a federal judge’s recent ruling in a separate case in California.
Members of the National Guard patrol the National Mall in Washington, DC, on September 3, 2025. (Photo by Austin DeSisto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Key Facts
Washington, D.C. attorney general Brian Schwalb, a Democrat, accused the Trump administration in the lawsuit of having “run roughshod over a fundamental tenet of American democracy—that the military should not be involved in domestic law enforcement.”
The suit comes after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled Tuesday the Trump administration violated the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits the military from being used for civilian law enforcement when it sent the National Guard to patrol protests against Trump’s immigration policies in Los Angeles earlier this summer.
Trump deployed the National Guard in Washington last month as part of a so-called crime crackdown in the city that included a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, and he has threatened to replicate the effort elsewhere, including Chicago, New Orleans and Baltimore, despite a decrease in violent crime in all three cities.
Tangent
Trump walked back his promise to send troops to Chicago on Wednesday, telling reporters he was instead eyeing New Orleans, where Louisiana’s Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said he would welcome the National Guard, allowing Trump to avoid a legal challenge like the one lobbed in Washington and likely to unfold in Chicago or other cities in states led by Democrats.
Key Background
More than 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed to Washington earlier this month by Trump and other Republican-led states that sent their troops for his so-called crime crackdown. In addition to patrolling the streets and assisting in arrests, troops have also participated in Trump’s public beautification efforts, including clearing trash, helping landscape and clearing homeless encampments. Trump in recent days has teased that the efforts could soon come to an end, insisting the streets are now safe.
Further Reading
Trump Suggests Sending National Guard To New Orleans Instead Of Chicago—Potentially Avoiding Legal Hurdle (Forbes)
Trump Says He’ll Send National Guard To Chicago And Baltimore (Forbes)
Trump Doubles Down On Chicago Threat—Says He’ll ‘Solve The Crime Problem’ (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/09/04/dc-sues-trump-for-deploying-national-guard/