The list of Republican-led states deploying National Guard troops to Washington expanded again on Tuesday as Tennessee moved to join five other states in aiding President Trump’s crackdown in the nation’s capital.
Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee is sending around 160 National Guard troops to Washington, Capt. Kealy Moriarty, the public affairs director of the Tennessee National Guard, said on Tuesday. They were expected to arrive by the end of this week.
The Republican governors of Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, West Virginia and South Carolina have also pledged troops. Mr. Trump has sought to take control of law enforcement in Washington to combat what he sees as escalating crime in the capital. He has also challenged the accuracy of the city’s crime statistics showing that Washington has actually become safer in the past two years.
Democrats are navigating a difficult balancing act, trying to push back on the federal incursion into the nation’s capital without ceding ground to Mr. Trump on issues of public safety.
But on Tuesday, Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas, the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, urged Republican governors to “reject the temptation to use their soldiers to reinforce a dangerous, politically motivated agenda.”
Deploying members of the National Guard from their states to Washington without the request and consent of local authorities, she said in a statement, “undermines the mission of the National Guard, wastes resources needed for real emergencies and, perhaps worst of all, adds to the divisiveness that already threatens our United States.”
Katie Glueck is a Times national political reporter.
Anushka Patil is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news around the world.
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