A federal appeals court in Washington on Thursday agreed to allow National Guard troops stationed by President Trump in the city since August to remain for now, blocking a lower court judge’s order that the Guard’s presence was unlawful and that the troops should be removed by Dec. 11.
In a brief order, a three-judge panel wrote that the decision was designed to give the court enough time to consider the issue, and “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits” of the case.
But the order appeared likely to prolong, at least for the time being, Mr. Trump’s most expansive effort so far to use the military to police a city with Democratic leadership, after smaller deployments in several other states were halted or wound down by order of federal judges around the country.
The president cited a targeted attack on two National Guard members in Washington on Nov. 26, which left one dead and the other seriously injured, in scaling up the deployment. Mr. Trump announced after the shooting that he was deploying 500 additional troops to the more than 2,000-member contingent already stationed in the capital, despite a judge’s order that the deployment was likely unlawful and needed to be ended.
In June, Mr. Trump began deploying troops from the National Guard, a state-based military force, to serve as an auxiliary force backing law enforcement and federal immigration agents in five cities with Democratic mayors. In each case, he said the deployments were warranted to address intractable urban crime problems, though judges have repeatedly found his claims about crime to be exaggerated.
In Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., state attorneys general objected, successfully arguing in federal court that the deployments were unlawful because no emergency conditions existed to warrant the military presence. In those cities, dwindling numbers of the Guard remain, tasked with more limited work such as protecting federal buildings rather than assisting in local law enforcement.
The Supreme Court is currently considering whether the National Guard deployment in Chicago, which initially involved around 500 troops, constitutes a legal use of military forces for domestic policing. In October, the justices asked the Trump administration for more information about the Guard’s role. An analysis by The Times in November found a number of errors and inconsistencies in the government’s submissions.
But the unusual legal status of the District of Columbia, which provides fewer obstacles to federal control, has allowed Mr. Trump to keep a much larger and more ubiquitous force in place across Washington.
In addition to roughly 900 members of the D.C. National Guard, the deployment has included an additional force of Guard members sent by the governors at least nine Republican-led states including West Virginia, Georgia and Ohio. As of November, troops from outside the district had grown to as many as 1,550 individuals, according to the D.C. National Guard’s website.
Zach Montague is a Times reporter covering the federal courts, including the legal disputes over the Trump administration’s agenda.
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