Federal Judge Declares Trump's D.C. National Guard Deployment 'Unlawful', Halting Anti-Crime Mission

Federal Judge Declares Trump's D.C. National Guard Deployment 'Unlawful'

A federal judge has delivered a significant blow to President Trump's use of National Guard troops for domestic operations, ruling the long-standing deployment in Washington, D.C., as "unlawful." This decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, mandates an end to the multi-month mission aimed at combating crime in the nation's capital.

The ruling marks the latest in a series of legal challenges against the administration's increasing reliance on military forces within American cities. Similar judicial resistance has recently impacted deployments in Memphis, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon, with courts halting or forcing the withdrawal of Guard units.

Judicial Reasoning and White House Response

Judge Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, sided with District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb. Schwalb had argued that the president's actions undermined the city's self-governance, created undue tension between residents and law enforcement, and negatively affected the local economy. "The Court finds that the District's exercise of sovereign powers within its jurisdiction is irreparably harmed by Defendants' actions in deploying the Guards," Cobb wrote in her order.

While the judge's order is immediate, she has paused its enforcement until December 11, allowing the Trump administration time to file an appeal. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson quickly defended President Trump's authority, stating, "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 violent crime in DC."

The D.C. Deployment: Origins and Scope

The D.C. deployment began in early August when President Trump unilaterally sent hundreds of troops into the city, bypassing mayoral consent, under the pretext of a "crime emergency." Local Democratic leaders have consistently disputed this claim. Since their activation, Guard personnel, totaling over 2,100 from D.C. and several states including Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and Georgia, have been assigned to patrols and community improvement tasks like trash removal and landscaping.