Oversight Project to D.C. Circuit: Stop D.C. Government’s Unlawful Power Grab
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2026
Last night, the Oversight Project filed a legal brief in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals urging the court, again, to throw out Washington D.C.’s lawsuit against President Trump over the deployment of National Guard troops in our nation’s capital. The Oversight Project has led the charge in laying out the legal justification and prudential case for the Trump Administration to take control of all aspects of Washington, D.C. so that our country can once again have a safe, beautiful, and orderly capital. The D.C. government is continuing its assault on the Constitution by trying to use the courts to assert powers that it does not have.
The Constitution makes clear that Washington D.C. is a part of the federal government and therefore cannot sue itself. Since our nation’s founding, Washington D.C. has been run by the federal government. Our brief makes clear that for over 200 years, presidents have asserted lawful control and management of Washington D.C. and that President Trump is well within his authority to take our nation’s capital back from violent gangs and drug dealers. D.C. is not a state and lacks the sovereign powers of states. Earlier in the case, two of three judges on the D.C. Circuit agreed with the Oversight Project, writing
Article III courts, of course, have an independent obligation to verify their jurisdiction. Permitting the District to sue the President and other federal officials based on a sovereign injury is unprecedented and likely at odds with the unique legal status of the District. In subsequent proceedings, this important jurisdictional question should be given further consideration.
The Oversight Project stood alone to make this crucial argument to the court. We urged the Department of Justice to do so. When they failed to make the argument that could have stopped this case in its tracks, the Oversight Project jumped in to defend President Trump and the rule of law. If the court accepts our argument, the D.C. Attorney General’s ability to use the courts to wage lawfare against the Trump Administration would be significantly curtailed. If the court allows D.C. to assert powers it does not have, radical D.C. mayors and attorneys general could team up with biased D.C. judges to continue lawfare against the American people’s chosen elected officials.
Kyle Brosnan, General Counsel of the Oversight Project offered the following quote:
“Wake up people: radicals worse than Mandami are trying to become mayor of Washington, D.C. Now is the time to put a stop to the failed experiment of letting D.C. run itself into the ground. The Oversight Project is standing alone in making an obvious legal argument that could stop lawfare by the D.C. Attorney General in its tracks. D.C. is not and cannot become a state. As a subsidiary of the federal government, it cannot sue the Trump Administration for the right to let criminals run wild in the streets of our nation’s capital. The American people elected President Trump to restore law and order to the streets of America and he is doing just that. We are happy to lead on this important issue and urge the D.C. Circuit to accept our argument for a second time.”
Read more on the Oversight Project’s legal brief in Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dcs-bid-block-trumps-national-guard-deployment-hits-basic-legal-snag-cant-sue-itself
Watch Mike Howell and Oversight Project Attorney Sam Dewey talk about this case on OAN’s Fine Point: