A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Trump's months-long deployment of thousands of National Guard forces to the streets of Washington, D.C., violates federal law.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb sided with D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who sued the federal government over the Guard deployment, arguing it exceeded the president's legal authority. But the judge stayed her ruling for 21 days to give the Trump administration a chance to appeal it.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson blasted the ruling, arguing that Mr. Trump has the authority to deploy Guard troops in the nation's capital. Jackson called Schwalb's lawsuit "nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of DC residents — to undermine the President's highly successful operations to stop violent crime in DC."
In his own statement following the ruling, Schwalb said, "Normalizing the use of military troops for domestic law enforcement sets a dangerous precedent, where the President can disregard states' independence and deploy troops wherever and whenever he wants – with no check on his military power. This unprecedented federal overreach is not normal, or legal. It is long past time to let the National Guard go home – to their everyday lives, their regular jobs, their families, and their children."
This is a breaking story; it will be updated.
