Bold claim: The federal appeals court just greenlit a longer-term National Guard presence in D.C., signaling a protracted deployment as judges weigh the legality of President Trump’s order.
More than 2,000 guardsmen have been stationed in Washington, D.C. since August, drawing troops from both the District and at least 11 states led by Republicans. The addition of hundreds more followed a recent targeted attack on National Guard troops that left one dead and another wounded, with attackers hailing from West Virginia.
This ruling overturns a lower court’s order to remove the troops from the capital. It stands out as Trump’s most extensive long-running operation to date, fitting a broader pattern of federalizing National Guard units to assist policing in Democratic-leaning cities across the country. Other deployments have faced legal hurdles, including a high-profile case in Chicago now before the Supreme Court seeking an emergency decision.
In the just-issued decision, the panel stated that Washington, D.C.’s unique federal status affords the President substantial control over troop deployments within the city. They also indicated a strong likelihood that the administration will win the overall case, potentially keeping the D.C. deployment in place at least through February 2026.
However, the judges flagged serious constitutional concerns about deploying out-of-state Guard personnel to another state without the host state governor’s consent—a point central to the administration’s actions in Oregon and Illinois. They described such moves as “constitutionally troubling to our federal system.”
This ruling arrives shortly after a separate federal appeals court ordered the Los Angeles deployment to end, ruling that President Trump overstepped authority by federalizing California’s National Guard and redirecting thousands of troops to quell protests there against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes. While the Ninth Circuit’s decision blocks further use of the remaining guard troops in Los Angeles, it did not immediately compel the troops to be returned to California; they remain under federal control for now, with many stationed at a nearby military facility undergoing training.
NPR’s reporting underscores the evolving clashes between executive decisions to nationalize state National Guard units and the limits imposed by state sovereignty and constitutional federalism. Tom Bowman contributed to this report from Washington.
