Federal Appeals Court Allows Trump’s National Guard Deployment in D.C. to Continue

by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump may continue deploying National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., at least temporarily, blocking a lower court order that had questioned the legality of the mission.

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Trump administration is likely to prevail because the nation’s capital is a federal district, not a sovereign state. Writing for the court, Judge Patricia Millett said the president holds “unique power” to mobilize the Guard in Washington due to its status as a federal enclave created by Congress.

The ruling stays a November decision by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, who had found that Trump overstepped his authority by deploying the Guard without the consent of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. The appeals court emphasized that its decision is preliminary and does not resolve the underlying legal dispute.

Trump ordered the Guard deployment in August under an operation dubbed “Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful,” citing concerns over crime, public safety, and support for federal immigration enforcement. Roughly 2,000 Guard members from the District and several Republican-led states have been deployed.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the city will continue to challenge the deployment in court, arguing that no emergency existed to justify federal intervention without local approval. The Justice Department maintains that the president does not need the mayor’s consent to deploy Guard forces in the capital for federal purposes.

The appeals court also noted that its ruling is narrowly focused on Washington, D.C., and may not apply to disputes involving National Guard deployments in the states, some of which are still being litigated, including a case pending before the Supreme Court.

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