Brian Schwalb claims National Guard troops operating without lawful authority in Washington

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced on Thursday he filed a lawsuit to counter the Trump administration’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C.

President Donald Trump federalized D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department on Aug. 11 under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to take emergency control of the police force for 30 days.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later authorized soldiers and airmen to be armed in D.C. if their mission requires it.

“Armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil,” Schwalb wrote in the announcement on X. “DC did not request or consent to the deployment of National Guard troops. Yet there are 2,300 National Guardsmen on our streets in military gear, carrying weapons, and driving armored vehicles.”

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Schwalb said The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the military from engaging in domestic policing, alleging National Guardsmen have been operating in D.C. under direct military command.

“This is plainly illegal, and it threatens our democracy and civil liberties,” he wrote.

“President Trump is well within his lawful authority to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C. to protect federal assets and assist law enforcement with specific tasks,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt—at the detriment of DC residents and visitors—to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in DC.”

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Though the 30-day time period is set to expire next week, Vice President JD Vance on Aug. 20 suggested the mission may continue. Any extensions would need to be approved by Congress.

Schwalb claimed there is “no clear end date to this illegal deployment,” adding more troops arrived in the nation’s capital this week.

Armed National Guard members patrol near the U.S. Capitol as security tightens following President Trump’s deployment order. (Getty Images/Tasos Katopodis)

An Aug. 25 executive order expanded the role of the National Guard in domestic law enforcement by creating a specialized unit within…