As Washingtonians head to work, we pass armed soldiers and barricaded intersections, not because our city asked for or needed help, but because outsiders and Mayor Bowser imposed it. This occupation is not a public safety plan. It is an assertion of power over a city still fighting for its own voice.
D.C. remains the only capital city in the democratic U.S. whose residents do not control their own local budget. We generate our own revenue, yet Congress decides how it is spent. Many of the same lawmakers who impose their will on our city come from districts with far higher crime rates and far more urgent needs at home. They enjoy salaries and privileges far beyond the reach of the working-class residents whose lives they shape here. This region is already one of the most unequal places in the country for working people, and an imposed budget controlled by outsiders only deepens that divide.
The National Guard presence reflects the same disregard for Washingtonians. Governors like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Patrick Morrisey have sent troops into D.C. even as their own states struggle with serious public safety and health challenges. Service members should be with their families during the holidays and supporting their local communities, not patrolling Metro stations or filling the role of police in a city they do not know. Their deployment here does nothing to solve the root causes of crime anywhere. It simply moves political theater into our neighborhoods.
Worse still, the Guard is being used to assist local police and, in some cases, operate alongside ICE. I see them in the subway stations and on the sidewalks, surrounding people and intimidating them sometimes upward of 10-1. They are not trained for these roles. When federal forces become entangled in domestic policing, mistrust grows. Animosity grows. People see their community being occupied rather than supported. The result is predictable. Tension escalates until violence erupts. Last week two National Guardsmen were tragically shot near Farragut West Metro. Three Black men were also tragically killed by police last month, sparking vigils across the city. These tragedies are not accidental but orchestrated to manufacture consent for their presence in the first place. They are symptoms of a failed strategy that places military forces into civilian life and then blames Washingtonians for the consequences. We have laws against these actions for a reason — the Home Rule Act, for starters.
A federal judge recently ruled that the occupation is unconstitutional. Yet the administration continues to expand it. Instead of protecting residents, federal officials accuse D.C. of failing to control what is happening, even though disruptive actors are often coming from outside the city. Washingtonians should not be held responsible for the chaos created by a federal presence we did not request and cannot vote to end.
We must put D.C. in charge of D.C. and make sure no administration can ever repeat the abuses we are living through now. This occupation was never about public safety. It was always about control. If we want stability, we must return to a model rooted in community investment, support for families, and respect for local governance. The National Guard should go home, and D.C. should be allowed to take care of D.C. That is the only path to real security for everyone who lives here.