Press Release  AG Campbell Supports D.C.’s Challenge To Trump National Guard Takeover

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed an amicus brief in support of D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the District of Columbia. AG Campbell joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in asserting that the deployment of National Guard troops without the consent of D.C.’s mayor is unlawful, unconstitutional, and undemocratic.  

“I am proud to stand with my colleagues in urging the court to reject this illegal National Guard deployment that creates unnecessary fear, undermines established trust between residents and local law enforcement, and conjures up the horrors of a police state where law enforcement patrols and controls rather than protects its people,” said AG Campbell. 

Domestic use of the military has long been recognized as antithetical to American values. While California and D.C. are the first places subjected to unlawful federalized deployments of the National Guard, President Trump has made clear that this is the beginning — not the end — of the military occupation of American cities. In the brief, AG Campbell and the coalition urge the District Court for the District of Columbia to grant a preliminary injunction and make clear that the Constitution prohibits the use of soldiers as local law enforcement. 

California was the first state to undergo President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard without its Governor’s consent. The troops’ presence has stoked fear among Californians, causing the public to stay home, fail to report for work, and avoid areas where the military is deployed. The use of federalized National Guard troops has damaged trust between local law enforcement and the community, as troops have been tasked with civilian law enforcement and were widely present during immigration raids in the first few weeks of their deployment.  

At the same time, these troops were diverted away from essential state functions, like fighting wildfires. In June 2025, the majority of California’s Guard’s specialized fire crews were diverted from its wildfire-fighting task force in the midst of peak fire season and instead deployed into the streets of Los Angeles. 

With California’s recent experience as a lesson, AG Campbell and the coalition argue that: 

• Using the military for local law enforcement, as the President has done in DC, upsets the careful balance between civilian and military authority set forth in the Constitution.
• The federalized deployment of National Guard troops infringes on the police powers reserved to States and localities. The Constitution establishes a federal government of limited, enumerated powers — general police power is not among them. 
• National Guard troops are not prepared to engage in civilian law enforcement, lacking training in criminal procedure, civil rights, criminal investigation, and de-escalation. This introduces complications and dangers to both the public and the troops engaging with them.
• States need the National Guard to be available for vital natural disaster and security functions. 

AG Campbell joins the attorneys general of California, Maryland, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in filing the brief.  

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