General Discussion

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the Trump administration on Thursday for deploying the National Guard to Washington, saying it infringes on the city’s sovereignty and violates laws prohibiting the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.

“The deployment of National Guard troops to police District streets without the District’s consent infringes on its sovereignty and right to self-governance,” lawyers for D.C. wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal District Court in Washington. “The deployment also risks inflaming tensions and fueling distrust toward local law enforcement. And it inflicts economic injuries, depressing business activities and tourism that form the backbone of the local economy and tax base. No American jurisdiction should be involuntarily subjected to military occupation.”......

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Trump’s troop deployment in California violated laws against using the military for domestic purposes. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, a San Francisco-based appointee of Bill Clinton, found that troops were actively participating in local policing in ways that ran afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which limits the use of the military in enforcing civilian laws.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee. It’s the second high-profile Trump-related case randomly assigned to Cobb in the past two weeks: Cobb also is also presiding over the lawsuit from Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, who is contesting Trump’s attempt to fire her.