West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey joined counterparts across the country in an appeals court filing to support the continued presence of National Guard members in Washington, D.C.
The friend of the court brief representing West Virginia and two dozen attorney generals across the country was filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
West Virginia has an estimated 160 to 170 National Guard members who have remained in Washington, D.C., in a response to a call from the governor for volunteers.
Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot last week while on duty near a Metro public transportation stop. West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries. U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, has remained in critical condition.
About 2,000 members of the National Guard, overall, have been deployed to Washington, D.C., to patrol on the National Mall, in Metro public transportation stations and across D.C. neighborhoods.
“Four months ago, President Trump acted swiftly and effectively. Using his constitutional and statutory authority, President Trump deployed the National Guard to safeguard the City,” wrote the attorneys general, including McCuskey.
“This mission has already produced strong results, but still more work must be done, and danger still lingers. Just last week, an Afghani national committed a heinous terror attack, shooting two National Guardsmen at close range and murdering one.”
Appeal of federal ruling in D.C. case
Less than a week before the attack on the Guard members, a federal judge ruled that deployment of the National Guard from several states, including West Virginia, to Washington, D.C., has been unlawful.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee to the federal court covering the District of Columbia, granted a preliminary injunction on Nov. 20. However, Cobb issued a stay of her own ruling until Dec. 11 to allow for appeal and “to prevent potential disruption to the functioning of the District and the National Guard.”
Last Friday, attorneys representing the Trump administration filed an appeal, asking to stop the preliminary injunction from taking effect. “This deployment is plainly lawful,” those lawyers wrote.
The appeals case is before federal judges Patricia Millett, who is an Obama appointee, and Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, who were appointed during Trump’s first term.
The appeals case is in its early stages, with a flurry of briefs from a range of organizations stating positions about the deployment to Washington, D.C.
The brief filed by attorneys general, including West Virginia’s McCuskey, supports the Trump administration’s position. Those attorneys general maintain the president has constitutional authority to use federal troops in the nation’s capital. And they contend that the deployment has been effective in reducing crime in Washington, D.C.
“Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in the District has caused crime rates to drop substantially,” the attorneys general wrote, citing murders, car jackings, robberies, car thefts and overall violent crime statistics.
Moreover, wrote the attorneys general including McCuskey, “troops have worked on beautification projects to clean up neighborhoods. In October, the National Guard reported clearing trash, spreading mulch, and removing plant waste.
“This type of work supports the efforts to prevent crime by ensuring that those neighborhoods are not ‘recognized as invitations to violent and property crimes.'”
Scrutiny of mission’s purpose
The basis of the mission has been under scrutiny in West Virginia, particularly following the shootings in downtown D.C.
COMMENTARY by HOPPY KERCHEVAL: Governor Morrisey and the National Guard mission in D.C.
The West Virginia National Guard specified in an August statement that “WVNG service members are not conducting beautification projects, such as litter collection and site restoration.”
Instead, the West Virginia Guard described roles in “areas of sustainment, logistics, administration, public affairs and Joint Staff augmentation. Security missions include static and roving presence patrols.”
The West Virginia Democratic Party, in a news release distributed this week, called on the administration to provide better grounding for why the West Virginia National Guard is maintaining a presence in Washington, D.C., citing national reporting that Guard members have been assigned to landscaping, beautification, and trash-removal duties.
“This is not about politics — it’s about accountability, transparency, and honoring the sacrifice of our Guard members. Their work should always match the seriousness of the risks they face,” stated West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin, a state delegate.
“At a moment when families are grieving and communities are asking hard questions, it is entirely appropriate for the governor to explain the true nature and purpose of this deployment.”
About 170 West Virginia Guard members in D.C.
On August 11, President Donald Trump declared a “crime emergency” for the District of Columbia, and five days later Gov. Patrick Morrisey deployed 300 to 400 members of the West Virginia National Guard for support.
The president’s emergency declaration, which placed the Metropolitan Police Department under federal direction, expired after 30 days, Sept. 10, but the National Guard presence has continued.
Last month, the West Virginia National Guard announced participation in patrols in Washington, D.C., would continue until the end of the year. However, West Virginia’s participation was already being scaled back, with about 160 to 170 volunteers remaining in the deployment. The remainder returned home.
In a briefing with West Virginia reporters this week, Morrisey was asked if he would deploy any additional troops to Washington, D.C. Following the shooting, the Trump administration indicated it would ask for 500 more Guard members from across the nation to come to Washington, D.C.
“I have not been asked to deploy additional troops at this time. So anything with respect to the number or where they’ll come from, right now that’s not our focus,” Morrisey said.
“Our sole focus right now is looking after the well-being of the 170 service members who are on the ground, focusing on the family, ensuring that prayers are going out. But there’s been no request that’s come to West Virginia so far.”
Asked how long the mission would continue, Morrisey responded, “there’s a periodic review and discussion about the length.”
U.S. District Judge Cobb, in a 61-page opinion, concluded that the Trump administration exceeded its authority to deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C. without the request of local officials. The judge concluded that although the Constitution grants authority over the district to Congress, that was delegated through home rule.
“Here, the state governors whose units are currently operating in the District lack authority to order these missions because the District has not properly sought their aid,” the judge wrote, citing local code and federal law.