Conservative Watchdog Urges Federal Court to Dismiss DC’s National Guard Lawsuit

A conservative watchdog organization has petitioned a federal appeals court to dismiss Washington, D.C.’s lawsuit over National Guard deployments, arguing that the district cannot legally sue the federal government because it is fundamentally a part of it.

“To start, one cannot sue oneself,” lawyers from the Oversight Project wrote in their brief. “And that is what this case ultimately is—the United States suing itself. Moreover, it is a foundational principle of the law that a municipal corporation cannot sue its sovereign creator.”

The case represents a critical juncture in the ongoing tension between presidential authority and D.C.’s push for greater self-governance. What began as a challenge to the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops in the capital has evolved into a deeper constitutional question about whether the District of Columbia has standing to bring such challenges in federal court at all.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Oversight Project lawyer Sam Dewey explained the potential far-reaching implications of the case. “If the judges find our argument valid, it’s going to kind of restore the normal system, which is D.C. is entirely subordinate to the federal government and these disputes are resolved politically,” Dewey said. The group contends that D.C.’s proper recourse on any federal issue should be through political channels—appealing to Congress and the president—rather than through the courts.

The legal dispute originated last September when D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed suit, claiming that then-President Trump had overstepped by disregarding “Congress’s decision, half a century ago, to afford the residents of the District ‘the powers of local self-government.'” The case challenges Trump’s deployment of National Guard forces to make the city “safe and beautiful,” part of a broader initiative that also targeted several other Democratic-led cities.

A three-judge panel has temporarily paused a lower court’s injunction against the administration while they consider the case’s merits. Two judges on that panel, both Trump appointees, indicated in a concurring opinion that the pause was necessary because D.C. likely lacks standing to sue. “We have never recognized that the District possesses an independent sovereignty that can give rise to an Article III injury from actions of the federal government,” they wrote.

The deployment of National Guard troops in Washington is part of a larger pattern. The Trump administration began sending National Guard forces to various cities last year to support immigration authorities facing protests over deportation efforts. While the Supreme Court ruled these deployments were likely unlawful in other cities under the statute Trump invoked, Washington, D.C.’s unique status as a federal district placed it in a different category.

Currently, approximately 2,600 National Guard soldiers remain stationed in D.C., with their presence extended through the end of 2026. Former President Trump has indicated a desire to maintain this deployment indefinitely. “This is actually training. I never want to take them out of D.C. I mean, maybe somebody later on will do it,” Trump stated during a Cabinet meeting last month.

The continued presence of National Guard troops has sparked significant controversy among D.C. residents and local Democratic officials, who view it as federal overreach into local governance. Multiple protests have occurred throughout the city, with demonstrators arguing against what they term a “federal takeover” of the district.

The appeals court case is expected to proceed through May with briefings, likely followed by oral arguments before a final decision on both the legal standing issue and the underlying question of the National Guard’s presence and activities in the capital.

The outcome could substantially impact the district’s long-standing struggle for autonomy and clarify the constitutional relationship between the federal government and the nation’s capital.