By Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Washington, D.C., sued the Trump administration on Thursday over the deployment of National Guard troops in the capital city.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, seeks a court order blocking the deployment on the grounds it is unconstitutional and violates multiple federal laws.
“Armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in an X post.
“The forced military occupation of the District of Columbia violates our local autonomy and basic freedoms. It must end.”
Since returning to the White House in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has attempted to broaden the role of the military on U.S. soil, which critics say is a dangerous expansion of executive authority that could spark tensions between the military and ordinary citizens.
Trump last month deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., saying they would “re-establish law, order, and public safety.” Trump also placed the capital district’s Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nia Williams)
