National Guard could stay in Washington, DC, through summer 2026: Lawsuit

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News

October 21, 2025, 8:59 PM


The National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C., could be extended into the summer of 2026, according to a new court filing and emails of National Guard leaders obtained by ABC News.

The documents, filed last week to the District of Columbia attorney general in the ongoing lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the D.C. National Guard, show federal officials intend to prepare for the winter months and beyond.

Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commander of the Washington, D.C., mission, wrote in an email to officers that the mission -- which lapses at the end of November -- could be extended yet again. Blanchard wrote that the team should "plan and prepare for a long-term persistent presence" in the District.

"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 a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026. Some 2,400 Guardsmen from the D.C. Guard and eight states are deputized as federal law enforcement. Governors from those eight states volunteered their Guardsmen for the mission and could choose to rotate their servicemembers out.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/national-guard-stay-washington-dc-summer-2026-lawsuit/story?id=126739403

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Link to D.C. Attorney General (OAG) FILING (PDF) - https://wjla.com/resources/pdf/83f203c2-b186-4719-9381-e05d763d7b30-SupplementalBriefSupportingDCmotherforPreliminaryInjuction.pdf#toolbar=0&navpanes=0&scrollbar=0

Additional info here - https://wjla.com/news/local/dc-national-guard-troops-washington-attorney-general-long-term-wintering-states-local-trump-military-strain-public-military-wintering-blanchard

[twodogsbarking]

1. Are they cleaning up litter? Maybe they could paint some things. Help people who are handicapped?

[Crowman2009]

2. I bet the orange assclown will screw them over on their pay/bonuses.

[lark]

3. krasnov wants them there for when he cancels the election or steals it.

That's why he wants them in Dem cities to stop us from overthrowing his theft of the government (again).

[intheflow]

4. MAGA obviously needs more proof he doesn't care about them.

Guardsmen and women are often the primary earners for their households. National Guard mobilization pay is ridiculously lower than what most people earn, lower than the minimum wage, iirc. This will be a tremendous hardship on those families, all so that Trump can look out his window and get a boner from seeing men in uniform carrying guns through peaceful city streets.