Capitol Hill Democrats, Republicans trade fire over National Guard in DC

Congressional Democrats are blasting President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C., as local officials fight in court to send the troops home.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., called the deployment of service members as part of Trump’s crackdown on crime in the District “horrible.”

“It is absolutely one of the most ridiculous things, and they’re embarrassing us on the world stage,” Cleaver said. “Because here we are, the citadel of democracy, and very clearly erasing a little bit of that ‘D’ every day when we send in troops to Washington, D.C., when Mayor Bowser did not request them.”

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Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., argued that troops patrolling the streets has made the city safer.

“It’s a new day,” he said. “As for the Democrats, look, I don’t know why they don’t believe in safety and security.”

Trump’s deployment of the National Guard within Washington comes after his move to federalize the local police force through the Home Rule Act last month, and it’s part of a surge of federal law enforcement officers who have been patrolling the streets ever since.

District Mayor Muriel Bowser has acknowledged that Trump’s takeover helped reduce crime in Washington, D.C., going so far as to sign an executive order encouraging further cooperation with federal officials when it comes to crime.

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But D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the administration earlier this week in an effort to remove the National Guard from the District.

“We shouldn’t be using the Guard for that, but we should be coordinating with our federal partners locally,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said, “Our FBI is very helpful. DEA is very helpful. So there’s a lot of room for cooperation to try to address the crime issues in all of our cities.”

His lawsuit came on the heels of a judge ruling that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles earlier this year was illegal. Schwalb contended in his suit that a law from the 1870s prevents troops from domestic policing.

“It’s just a commonsense issue,” Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said. “And I think that Democrats should be reaching out saying, ‘Great, how do we work together to make sure that the District is as safe as possible for the benefit of everybody?”

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Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., argued that troops in D.C. was “simple.” 

“Crime was pretty high in Washington, D.C., right? And then Trump acted, and now crime is down 97%,” she said. “What’s wrong with that?”

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., noted that the National Guard’s deployment in his home state has aided policing. Earlier this year, New Mexico’s Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called in the state’s guard to aid local police to combat fentanyl and juvenile crime.

But Heinrich countered that Trump’s usage of troops wasn’t really about backing up the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

“I worry that what we’re seeing in D.C. is not really supporting police activities, and is more of a distraction from the Epstein situation,” he said.