I know this is going to come as a shock, but a federal judge in D.C. has ruled that President Trump's deployment of the National Guard in the District is illegal and ordered a halt to the Guard's deployment there.
Judge Jia Cobb, on Thursday, issued an order and memorandum opinion enjoining the Trump administration from deploying or requesting the deployment of any members of the National Guard in the District of Columbia pursuant to a series of orders and memorandums issued in conjunction with "Operation Make DC Safe and Beautiful."
Washington, DC’s Attorney General’s office had sued the Trump administration in early September over the National Guard’s deployment in the city, which came as Trump surged federal law enforcement in the capital.
The administration “exceeded the bounds of their authority” in how they deployed National Guard troops in the city, and “acted contrary to law” when they deployed the DC National Guard “for non-military, crime-deterrence missions in the absence of a request from the city’s civil authorities,” federal District Judge Jia Cobb wrote.
Two More States Now Sending National Guard to D.C.
In her memorandum opinion, Cobb explained:
The record in this case, including many of the amicus briefs filed, makes clear that there are strong views on both sides about whether these deployments represent good policy. But the Court is only tasked with deciding whether Defendants’ actions are lawful. In this opinion, the Court addresses two of the District’s statutory arguments under the APA and finds that it is likely to succeed on the merits of both. First, the DOD Defendants have exceeded the bounds of their authority under Title 49 of the D.C. Code, and thus acted contrary to law, in deploying the DCNG for non-military, crime-deterrence missions in the absence of a request from the city’s civil authorities. Second, these Defendants lack statutory authority under 32 U.S.C. § 502 to support their request for assistance from out-of-state National Guards and their actions in calling those Guards to the District. The Court finds that the District’s exercise of sovereign powers within its jurisdiction is irreparably harmed by Defendants’ actions in deploying the Guards, and that the balance of equities and public interest weigh in the District’s favor.
Now, Cobb also granted the administration's request to administratively stay her order — thus keeping it from taking effect — for 21 days, noting:
The Court finds, however, that the public interest weighs in favor of an administrative stay in this case, and that a stay is needed to permit orderly proceedings on appeal. Accordingly, the Court will STAY its order for 21 days, until December 11, 2025.
That affords the administration time to file its appeal with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals — which we can expect it will in short order.
Meanwhile, we await additional rulings from the 7th and 9th Circuits and the Supreme Court on several of the National Guard deployments. We'll keep an eye out for them.
Editor's Note: Radical leftist judges are doing everything they can to hamstring President Trump's agenda to make America great again.
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