Federal Judge Rules Trump's National Guard Deployment in DC was Unlawful, but Appeals Court says his Race Soldiers Can Stay During Their Review

From [HERE] The Trump administration will be allowed to continue its National Guard deployment in D.C. at least temporarily, pending another appeals court decision, a panel of U.S. Court of Appeals judges said Thursday.

The ruling means the deployment of troops to the nation’s capital could persist beyond Dec. 11, the date a lower-court judge had previously set as a deadline for the administration to halt the mission. Last month, that U.S. District Court judge handed D.C. a preliminary legal win in its lawsuit over the deployment, writing in an opinion that it was illegal and ordering the administration to pause it while litigation proceeds.

The Trump administration then asked the appeals court to intervene and allow the troops to remain longer — and on Thursday, judges with the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals granted an administrative stay in the case, meaning the drawdown of troops will be delayed at least until the appeals court makes an additional ruling.

The court emphasized that Thursday’s decision had nothing to do with the merits of the Trump administration’s arguments in the case and that it merely buys the judges more time. “The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the motion for stay pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,” they wrote. [MORE]

From [HERE] Last week a US federal judge ruled that President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Washington, DC, is unlawful, in District of Columbia v. Trump.

District Judge Jia M. Cobb of the US District Court for the District of Columbia stated in a memorandum opinion that the defendants “exceeded the bounds of their authority under Title 49 of the D.C. Code” by using the DC National Guard (DCNG) for “non-military, crime-deterrence” reasons, through mechanisms like patrols in public spaces. Although Title 49 designates the president as commander in chief of the DCNG, the president is nonetheless limited to “instances in which the relevant civil authorities request” their aid. She further stated that the Department of Defense “lack[s] statutory authority under 32 U.S.C. § 502” to bring in National Guard members from outside the state. According to the court, the code only permits this where the “operations or missions … are authorized under state law.” While granting preliminary relief, the court issued an administrative stay for 21 days to allow time for an appeal.

The suit was brought by the District of Columbia against the Trump administration on September 4. The complaint alleged that the use of the National Guard affects the District’s “sovereignty and right to self-governance … inflaming tensions.” An executive order declaring a “crime emergency” in DC was issued on August 11, and a second order deploying the National Guard was issued on August 25. Roughly 2,200 members of the National Guard are currently in DC.