A federal judge ordered President Trump to bring his monthslong deployment of National Guard troops in the nation’s capital to an end.  The judge did not have the authority.

     US District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, approved Washington, DC’s request for a preliminary injunction on Trump’s deployment of troops to the city after concluding the nation’s capital will likely prevail suit against the president.  Cobb put her ruling on hold until Dec. 11, giving the Trump administration time to appeal.  Since Aug. 11, Trump has dispatched over 2,000 National Guard troops as part of an effort to crack down on crime and beautify DC.

     “While the President certainly may have some Article II powers to protect federal functioning and property, including in the District, such powers cannot justify the deployment of the DCNG [DC National Guard] in this case,” Cobb wrote in a lengthy opinion.  DC filed a lawsuit against Trump back in September, arguing that his troop deployment was illegal because it did not have Mayor Muriel Bowser’s blessing.  Trump also briefly federalized DC’s Metropolitan Police Department and surged federal law enforcement personnel in the city, who, unlike the National Guard, have the power to arrest. The MPD takeover only lasted 30 days. 

     Cobb pointed to the Home Rule Act, which gives DC critical self-governance powers to justify the preliminary injunction.  “The Court finds that Defendants lack authority under D.C. law to support their deployment of the DCNG and have exceeded the bounds of their statutory authority … in requesting the deployment of out-of-state National Guards,” Cobbs added.