Lawsuit against Trump’s Washington National Guard deployment exposes country’s deep partisan divide

Washington: A partisan battle is playing out in a Washington courtroom that could decide the fate of President Donald Trump’s federal law enforcement intervention in the nation’s capital.

Dozens of states have taken sides in a lawsuit challenging the open-ended National Guard deployment in Washington, with their support falling along party lines.

It shows how the law enforcement operation in the nation’s capital remains a flashpoint in the Republican president’s broadening campaign to send the military to cities across the country and underscores the deepening divisions over the move.

The lawsuit, filed September 4 by Washington Attorney General Brian Schwalb, challenges the Trump administration’s use of the National Guard in the heavily Democratic city as part of an emergency order issued by Trump to stem what the president called “out of control” crime.

Although the order has lapsed, hundreds of troops are still in the city, which is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the deployment.

With legal action launched against deployments to Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, the case will be closely watched, even though Washington’s status as a federal district makes it an outlier. Oral arguments are set to begin October 24.

Twenty-three states have aligned with the Trump administration’s stance that the president has the authority to bring in the National Guard, while 22 states back Washington’s position. The 23 states supporting the administration have Republican attorneys general while the other 22 have Democrats.

For the states joining in the lawsuit — especially those facing their own interventions -- supporting Washington was a way to show solidarity against what they said was presidential overreach.

“It is un-American to use the military in any of our cities — absent truly extraordinary circumstances — and a threat against one city is a threat to us all,” said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, a Democrat, who supports Washington.

The states supporting Washington said in their filing that the deployment of National Guard units

without the city’s consent is unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic.

It “sets a chilling precedent that threatens the constitutional rights of Americans everywhere,” they said. “By unlawfully deploying National Guard troops, and by threatening to deploy the Guard to every State at his whim, the President has attacked State sovereignty, harmed local jurisdictions, and made us less safe.”

Those siding with the administration say Trump is in the right with his National Guard deployment in the District of Columbia.

“The District belongs to the People’ as a whole, and its safety is critical to our constitutional republic,” the 23 states said in a September 16 filing, adding that they “have a profound interest in this case to ensure that President Trump can continue to protect our Nation’s capital.”

The reasoning, they say, is for safety not just for residents but for members of Congress and their staffers, as well as administration officials and foreign embassy workers. The filing notes all the groups have been crime victims in Washington in recent years. agencies