Washington, D.C., will remain under an expanded National Guard presence through at least the end of 2026 after the Trump administration approved another extension of the mission, keeping roughly 2,600 Guard members deployed across the city despite violent crime rates sitting at a 30-year low.
“And so it goes,” mused Tremaine Lackey, a Northeast D.C. resident who works near Union Station. “The police state continues and the America that we once knew, the one where people put their lives at risk to come here, is no more. The extension of federal policing is not only unnecessary, but it provokes people and I guess that’s what our president wants.”
The decision, outlined in federal memos and confirmed by multiple reports, continues a deployment that began in August 2025 when President Donald Trump ordered the D.C. National Guard to mobilize in support of local and federal law enforcement.
The operation was later reinforced by Guard units from 11 states, most governed by Republicans, giving the president direct control over a force operating in a city whose residents lack voting representation in Congress.
Troops have been stationed near federal buildings, transit hubs, and major corridors, carrying out patrols and limited law enforcement support, while also taking on sanitation and public works assignments such as trash collection, park cleanups, and roadway maintenance.
The federal extension comes as D.C. residents and voting rights advocates warn that the prolonged military presence is representative of the city’s fragile self-governance.
Under the Home Rule Act of 1973, District voters elect a mayor and council, but Congress retains authority to overturn local laws, budgets, and criminal justice policies.
In a December Washington Informer commentary, the founders of DC Statehood PAC and longtime advocates for District statehood, voting rights, and democracy, wrote that the continued use of federal power over the city aligns with a longtime campaign to weaken local control. They noted that Congress has moved repeatedly to override locally passed legislation and interfere with the city’s judicial and law enforcement authority.
“They are furiously trying to eliminate D.C.’s self-rule by repealing the Home Rule Act and imposing martial law on the people of the District, using the National Guard and our own police force,” the local leaders and activists wrote.
Republican governors have continued to extend deployments of their own Guard units to Washington. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently approved a 90-day extension for about 100 Arkansas Army National Guard soldiers first deployed in November 2025. Those troops, from the 142nd Field Artillery Brigade, are assigned to security patrols and law enforcement support roles in coordination with the D.C. National Guard.
“Under the Governor’s strong leadership, the Arkansas National Guard is proud to continue its support to the District of Columbia,” Arkansas Adjutant General Brig. Gen. Chad Bridges said in a statement announcing the extension.
Civil liberties groups have pushed back, arguing that the use of out-of-state Guard units to police the nation’s capital raises constitutional and civil rights concerns. The Arkansas Civil Liberties Union warned that deploying troops in politically charged law-and-order operations risks eroding public trust and blurring the line between civilian governance and military authority.
District advocates argue that the push for members of the National Guard from 11 outside states — Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, West Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, Oklahoma, Ohio, Louisiana and Arkansas — goes against values once lauded by conservative politicians.
“Republicans once argued that local problems are best addressed by the government closest to the people they govern,” the activists and local leaders wrote in the December commentary published by The Informer. “Those of us who call the District home know that solutions to D.C.’s challenges will not come from senators and representatives or other unelected officials from far-flung places…. who do not know the neighborhoods or the people of this great city (but are happy to uproot their citizens to mill often aimlessly on our streets, the Mall and other public spaces).”
The deployment has also faced legal challenges. A federal judge ruled in November that the Guard mission was unlawful and ordered it to end, but an appeals court allowed the operation to continue while the case proceeds, thus keeping troops in place for now.
“We in the District have fought hard for our limited democracy,” the advocates wrote in The Informer. “Congress should not destroy it.”