Federal judge orders halt to National Guard deployment in DC

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

A federal judge in the District of Columbia ordered the Trump administration to end its deployment of the National Guard in the nation’s capital.

Judge Jia Cobb said the administration’s deployment of National Guard violates the Constitution. She also said the military force illegally overrides the local leaders authority to oversee law enforcement.

“The District may not be a sovereign like a state is, but it can nevertheless exercise delegated sovereign powers and is therefore injured by being unlawfully deprived of those powers,” Cobb wrote in a court order.

On Aug. 11, President Trump ordered the National Guard to be deployed in order to deter crime in the District of Columbia. National guard units from South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia, Georgia and Alabama joined efforts to deter crime in the capital.

“The Court concludes that Plaintiff is suffering an irreparable harm to its sovereign powers under the Home Rule Act, which are being usurped by Defendants’ unlawful actions,” Cobb wrote.

The Home Rule Act allows local government officials to maintain control over law enforcement in order to deter crime and protect public safety.

On Oct. 31, Trump extended the order keeping the National Guard in the district until Feb. 28, 2026.

Cobb gave the Trump administration until Dec. 11 to appeal the ruling.