By Jess Bravin
WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court on Wednesday allowed President Trump to continue deploying National Guard units on the streets of the capital city at least temporarily, rejecting, for now, the District of Columbia's argument that the military mission is unlawful without assent from Washington's elected mayor.
In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel said the Trump administration is likely to prevail in its argument that the president possesses a unique power within the nation's capital to mobilize the Guard "because the District of Columbia is a federal district created by Congress, rather than a constitutionally sovereign entity like the fifty States."
Trump has been mobilizing National Guard units to support immigration crackdowns and law-enforcement surges in several Democratic-run cities. Some state and local officials, representing areas where Trump is deeply unpopular, have protested the moves as a political stunt. Lawsuits over the deployments have produced mixed results in cities from Los Angeles to Chicago, with the latter now pending before the Supreme Court.
The District of Columbia, a federal enclave, presents unique legal questions regarding the balance between local and national authority. Congress, which holds power over the district, passed a law in 1973 granting home rule to Washington's citizens, who elect their own mayor, attorney general and city council, and under a 1961 constitutional amendment, cast three Electoral College votes in presidential elections.
While governors serve as the commanders in chief of their state National Guard forces, the president holds that position for the D.C. Guard. Beginning in August, Trump mobilized some 2,000 Guardsmen, divided between local recruits and those from other states, for a mission dubbed Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful. Trump's order directed the Guard "to address the epidemic of crime in our Nation's capital... until I determine that conditions of law and order have been restored."
The following month, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, a Democrat, filed suit alleging that deploying the Guard without the consent of Mayor Muriel Bowser violated several laws, including the 1973 home-rule act.
Although federal law allows the president to unilaterally deploy the Guard in response to an emergency, such as a "tumult, riot, mob" or other such condition, no such crisis existed in the district, Schwalb argued. Supplementing ordinary law enforcement was a local affair that required the mayor's approval, he contended.
Bowser, a Democrat, opposes the deployment but has avoided confrontation with Trump.
In November, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb agreed with Schwalb that Trump overstepped by sending the Guard into city neighborhoods.
In its appeal, the Justice Department argued that the president need not defer to Washington's mayor in mobilizing the Guard.
"Even without express statutory authorization, he may deploy them to a federal enclave for federal purposes without judicial second-guessing," the department's brief said.
In December, two West Virginia Guard members deployed in Washington were shot, one fatally. A suspect who allegedly traveled to the district from Bellingham, Wash., to commit the attack has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges.
Write to Jess Bravin at Jess.Bravin@wsj.com and Lydia Wheeler at lydia.wheeler@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 17, 2025 11:17 ET (16:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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