Judge Cobb paused implementation of her order for 21 days to allow the administration to appeal…reports Asian Lite News
A federal judge in Washington has delivered a significant rebuke to the Trump administration, ordering an end to the months-long deployment of National Guard troops in the US capital. The ruling, issued on Thursday by US District Judge Jia Cobb, concluded that the former president’s move to position Guard units across Washington, D.C., amounted to an unlawful intrusion into the authority of local officials who are responsible for policing the district.
Judge Cobb determined that while a president retains the power to safeguard federal institutions and assets, that authority does not extend to unilaterally deploying the D.C. National Guard for general crime control, nor to summoning Guard units from other states without local approval. She paused implementation of her order for 21 days to allow the administration to appeal.
The lawsuit was brought by District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who argued that the deployment represented a federal overreach that undermined the city’s autonomy. Dozens of states backed the case, largely along party lines. After the ruling, Schwalb urged that the troops be withdrawn, stating that “normalising the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement sets a dangerous precedent,” and warning that it effectively allows a president to “disregard states’ independence and deploy troops wherever and whenever he wants.”
The White House defended its actions, insisting that the deployment was lawful and necessary. A spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, said the former president remained “well within his lawful authority” to use the National Guard to protect federal assets and assist police with specific missions. She dismissed the lawsuit as “another attempt — at the detriment of DC residents — to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime.”
The dispute stems from an August executive order in which President Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington. Within weeks, some 2,300 National Guard troops from eight states and the district were deployed across the city under the control of the Secretary of the Army, alongside hundreds of federal agents. Similar deployments in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland have prompted a patchwork of legal battles, some of which remain ongoing.
In Washington, city lawyers have warned that the troop presence could stretch well into next summer, and argue that the continued deployment erodes the district’s “sovereign authority” over its own policing. They also contend that out-of-state troops, deputised as US Marshals Service officers, are effectively serving as a federal military police force on city streets, heightening tensions and diverting local resources.
Government lawyers maintain that Congress vested operational control of the D.C. National Guard in the presidency and argue there is “no sensible reason” to unwind the deployment while challenges proceed.
