Free District of Columbia from military occupation
On Aug. 11 of 2025, Donald Trump ordered the secretary of defense to mobilize the D.C. National Guard to combat what he claimed was “an epidemic of crime in our nation’s capital,” even though earlier that year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had announced crime there had fallen to a 30-year low. In fact, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime had declined 26% the previous year alone.
Although the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that the president lacked the authority to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago over the objection of Illinois’ governor, the district is different because it does not have a governor in charge of the National Guard. Instead, the president exercises control.
The basic rule in the United States is that, unlike the leaders of countries that employ the military as an instrument of domestic control, the president cannot use it as a police force. According to the Supreme Court in Laird v. Tatum (1972), there is “a traditional and strong resistance of Americans to any military intrusion into civilian affairs” that has “deep roots in our history.”
Passed in 1878, the Posse Comitatus Act forbids the military from enforcing laws within the United States without express congressional or constitutional authority. However, because Donald Trump essentially serves as governor of Washington, D.C., it is exempt from the act.
The unique status of the district means Congress has the final say over its governance.
Until the 1973 Home Rule Act, federally appointed commissioners and Congress, none of whom were elected by the city’s residents, controlled the laws and budget. The Home Rule Act, while not giving local citizens the opportunity to elect members of Congress, did allow them to elect a government to run the district’s day-to-day affairs, though Congress retained the power to overrule that government’s decisions.
Because soldiers are not trained in law enforcement, the duties of the National Guard troops in D.C., according to the Defense department, are limited to “administrative and logistical support” and “providing a physical presence in support of law enforcement.” They cannot make arrests, carry out searches, or investigate crimes.
However, they have been used to visibly patrol the streets, and even temporarily detain people until the police arrive. This sounds to many like intimidation, especially of protesters and the most vulnerable. If it leads to violence that could provide an excuse for a crackdown.
In essence, National Guard troops have roamed the streets like an occupying army for more than a year now, despite the fact the original declaration of a “crime emergency” lasted only for a month.
The members of the Guard have been deputized as specialized police by the U.S. Marshal’s Service and issued firearms. A “summer surge” increased the number of troops to nearly 5,000.
The administration has now extended the deployment through the end of Trump’s term in January 2029, even though the president’s (false) statement that the city “has almost no crime anymore” would seem to undermine the justification of a “crime emergency.” The nonpartisan watchdog group, Project on Government Oversight, estimates the deployment will eventually cost more than $2.5 billion.
“You would never see that happen in any other place in the United States of America.” Said Ankit Jain, one of the district’s two nonvoting U.S. senators.
It is long past time to end the military occupation of the capital city of the United States, yet it is hardly likely that Congress will vote to send the troops home. The national media is giving this issue almost no attention and the lack of congressional representation for the residents of Washington, D.C. deprives them of the voice that 50 states have.
The real solution may be to admit Washington as the 51st state. That is something they, unlike Canadians, district citizens actually want.
Bruce Altschuler is an emeritus professor of political science at the State University of New York. His work is syndicated through PeaceVoice.
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