Judge rules Trump's deployment of National Guard to DC was illegal, orders troops to leave
Federal judge orders National Guard troops to leave DC
A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard to D.C. was illegal and ordered that the troops leave the city, but it’s unlikely that they’ll be leaving immediately. Sydney Persing is in Northwest D.C. with the latest.
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard to D.C. was illegal, and has ordered that the troops leave the city, but it’s unlikely that they’ll be leaving immediately.
A major decision:
That federal judge on Thursday ruled that the president’s deployment of the National Guard in D.C. is illegal and she ordered it to end.
But she also put that order essentially on hold for 21 days to give the administration time to appeal, which it almost certainly will.
That’s why we don’t expect to see troops pack up and leave any time soon.
DC National Guard update: Federal judge orders end to deployment
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to halt its months‑long deployment of National Guard troops in the nation’s capital.
What this means:
This ruling is significant. It comes about three months after Trump first deployed thousands of troops to D.C. as part of the "crime emergency" that he declared back in August.
Trump’s order brought a surge of hundreds of federal agents onto city streets and prompted protests across the District, as well as a lawsuit from D.C.’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who sued the Trump administration, arguing the president did not have the authority to deploy the Guard without the mayor’s consent.
Schwalb has doubled down, calling the deployment illegal. In a statement to FOX 5, in part, "From the beginning, we made clear that the U.S. military should not be policing American citizens on American soil. It is long past time to let the National Guard go home to their everyday lives, their regular jobs, their families, and their children."
Dig deeper:
Meanwhile, a White House spokesperson maintained the president’s deployment of the troops is, in fact, legal.
"President Trump is well within his lawful authority to deploy the National Guard in Washington D.C. to protect federal assets and assist law enforcement with specific tasks. This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of DC residents — to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in D.C.," the statement reads.
What's next:
There’s no doubt that the guard’s presence in D.C. has been controversial.
The administration argued it helped keep crime here down and while some residents agreed and welcomed it the additional law enforcement, others called it unnecessary and dangerous.
We’ll have to wait to see exactly how an appeal plays out.