DC National Guard preparing for possible deployment extension
The Washington, D.C. National Guard is preparing for a possible extended deployment through November 30, 2025, and potentially beyond, in connection with ongoing security operations in the district. Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard instructed troops to “winterize” and prepare for a long-term presence, citing the upcoming America 250 semiquincentennial celebrations in the summer of 2026 as a factor influencing the mission’s duration. This extended deployment follows President Donald Trump’s August 11 declaration of a crime emergency in D.C., leading to significant federalized law enforcement activity, including over 4,700 arrests in 75 days. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has challenged the deployment in court, arguing that it constitutes an indefinite law enforcement operation. Similar legal battles are occurring in other states, and a federal appeals court recently allowed National Guard deployment in Portland, Oregon. the case regarding the D.C. deployment is assigned to District Judge Jia M. Cobb.
DC National Guard ‘winterizing’ to prepare for possible extension until ‘America 250’
The commanding general of the Washington, D.C., National Guard told troops to “prepare for a long-term persistent presence” in the district.
The latest order kept the D.C. National Guard mobilized through Nov. 30, 2025. However, Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard advised troops “to work quickly towards ‘winterizing’” in preparation for the coming season in an email that surfaced in court documents from D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s lawsuit against the deployment.
“The latest on the length of the mission remains a commitment through 30 Nov although my guidance to the team is to plan and prepare for a long-term persistent presence. We know that America 250 occurs this summer, and that will be a factor in determining the future of the mission,” Blanchard wrote, referring to the semiquincentennial celebrations in the summer of 2026.
Schwalb discussed Blanchard’s emails in a supplemental brief filing for a preliminary injunction and a temporary stay on National Guard deployment until the court makes a final ruling.
“Discovery has made clear that Defendants have no intention of ending this deployment soon,” Schwalb wrote in the supplemental brief, citing Blanchard’s emails. “Defendants are thus engaged in a long-term law enforcement operation in the District.”
The National Guard deployment in Washington began on Aug. 11, when President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in the capital. Over the past 75 days, federalized law enforcement has made over 4,700 arrests in the district, according to Chief Inspector Don Snider of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Schwalb is one of several local officials hoping to curb Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to their cities. Govs. JB Pritzker (D-IL) and Tina Kotek (D-OR) have been fighting legal battles for their states to put a hold on National Guard deployments.
APPEALS COURT ALLOWS TRUMP TO DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD TO PORTLAND
On Monday, a federal appeals court gave the Trump administration a win in Portland, Oregon, giving the go-ahead for National Guard troops to be deployed in the blue city. Following a lower court’s blocking of the deployment to Chicago, Trump asked the Supreme Court to lift the stay in an emergency filing.
District Judge Jia M. Cobb, a Biden appointee, has been assigned to the Washington National Guard case, filed by Schwalb.
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