WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four Republican governors are sending nearly 1,000 National Guard members to the District of Columbia after President Donald Trump last week activated 800 members from the district’s Guard as part of his federal takeover of the nation’s capital.
The deployment would bring the total number of National Guard troops to roughly 1,800 in the district’s 68 square miles, following the president’s “crime emergency” declaration, even though violent crime in the district is at a 30-year low.
Because the district, home to more than 700,000 residents, is not a state, the president has the sole authority over its National Guard members.
The president has not only activated the National Guard but through the district’s Home Rule Act is using the Metropolitan Police Department’s 3,400-member police force for immigration enforcement.
The 1,000 National Guard members sent from the states are expected to arrive in the district Monday and through the coming days and are expected to be armed, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will send 150 military police from his state’s National Guard; Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves will send 200 members; South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster approved 200 members; and West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey will send up to 400 National Guard members.
McMaster and Morrisey added that the federal government would cover the cost of deploying state troops.
Unknown how long Guard will stay
It’s unclear how long National Guard members will remain on duty in the district. National Guard members are usually deployed for natural disasters and kept in reserve. Most have civilian jobs and families that they are pulled away from when they are activated.
The Department of Defense did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.
The president has 23 days left in his emergency declaration and has signaled he wants to extend the emergency longer, as well as request funding from Congress to finance his plans for the district. He’s directed federal law enforcement officers to not only conduct local policing, but to clear out camps of homeless people.
It’s not the first time Republican governors have signaled they will deploy their National Guard members at Trump’s request. Iowa’s Kim Reynolds has stated she will send troops to help with the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans.
And last week Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee said he’s prepared to send his National Guard members to the district. He added that U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll told him that the military might request states to send troops to the district for law enforcement.
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 generally bars the use of the military for domestic law enforcement purposes.
Lee’s office did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, declined a request from the Trump administration to send the state’s National Guard to the district, according to Vermont Public.
DeWine, McMaster and Morrisey said the Pentagon made requests for additional National Guard members.
What other states might see deployments?
States Newsroom reached out to the offices of all 27 Republican governors to ask if the Trump administration had requested National Guard members.
The administration has not made any requests to Georgia, South Dakota and Virginia, according to spokespeople at those offices. Maryland, which borders the district and is led by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, has not received a request from the Pentagon to send in National Guard members, according to a spokesperson for Moore’s office.
A spokesperson for Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said there are no current plans for a deployment of National Guard troops from the state.
Laura Strimple, communications director for Republican Gov. Jim Pillen of Nebraska, said in a statement that the governor supported the president’s “initiatives to reduce crime and clean up the streets in our nation’s capital, including placing the Metropolitan Police Department under federal leadership and tasking the District of Columbia National Guard and National Guard troops from several nearby states with security in Washington.”
“At this time, the Nebraska National Guard is not part of this mission,” she added.
A spokesperson for Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis did not directly answer States Newsroom’s question if the state, which is preparing for Category 4 Hurricane Erin, had received a request from the Trump administration to send National Guard members to the district.
“We stand ready to mobilize any resources necessary in response to President Trump’s federal priorities,” the spokesperson said.
The rest of the state offices did not respond to States Newsroom’s requests for comment.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
