National Guard troops will be on the streets of Washington, DC, until the end of the year, according to a memo reviewed by the AP. The memo, signed by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and dated Wednesday, said "the conditions of the mission" warrant an extension past the end of next month to continue supporting President Trump's "ongoing efforts to restore law and order." At the same time, Trump has at least temporarily dropped his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon, which had provoked legal challenges.
Because Washington is a congressionally established federal district, as president, Trump has much greater control over the police and DC National Guard, which he can control directly. This has enabled him to sidestep the legal challenges that he has faced in some states, per the AP. Trump activated 800 members of the DC National Guard in August under an emergency order. Those numbers were quickly augmented by troops from states with Republican governors. There are currently about 2,600 National Guard troops in Washington, with about 700 from DC and the rest from 11 states, including Indiana, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
The mission was quickly broadened from its initial crime-fighting mandate to city beautification. In one of its last updates, the task force overseeing the mission said that in early October troops cleared 1,150 bags of trash, spread 1,045 cubic yards of mulch, removed 50 truckloads of plant waste, cleared 7.9 miles of roadway, painted 270 feet of fencing, and pruned 400 trees. Two National Guard troops from West Virginia who were part of the mission in DC were shot the day before Thanksgiving. Spec. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died of her injuries.
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