Oversight Project Files Appellate Brief Supporting National Guard in D.C. & Says: Time for Trump Administration to Take the Gloves Off, Following Afghan Terrorist Attack
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2025
Washington, D.C. – The Oversight Project filed a brief late last week that would finally put an end to the absurdity of Washington, D.C., fighting the Trump Administration over basic law and order issues, if supported by the U.S. Department of Justice. The brief argues that the Court should throw the case against the National Guard’s presence in D.C. out and allow President Trump to take measures to keep D.C. safe.
Oversight Project President Mike Howell said, “After the terrorist attack from an Afghan on National Guardsmen, the time has come for the Trump Administration to finally take the gloves off. Unfortunately, it does not appear that will happen immediately, but our brief gives the Department of Justice the legal ammunition to finally end D.C. Home Rule should the Trump Administration choose to put an end to this madness.”
On the issue of Home Rule, Howell continued to say that “D.C. Home Rule has been a catastrophic failure for our nation’s capital. From the District’s financial collapse in the 1990s to its consistent rankings among the most violent cities in the United States, the District was simply run better under the direct control of Congress and the President. With the recent resignation of the District’s Police Commissioner, local leaders will likely again appoint an incompetent official who will fail to curtail the out-of-control crime problem.”
The Oversight Project filed the brief in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals case regarding the deployment of National Guard troops to fight crime in our nation’s capital. When the Guard arrived, the city’s crime tumbled dramatically. The brief is a simple argument: D.C. cannot sue the federal government because it is part of it. This means that D.C. suing is effectively the federal government suing itself. The law is clear that courts do not have standing to hear such cases.
Oversight Project Vice President Kyle Brosnan said, “The District of Columbia must be reeled back in under direct federal control to clean up the chaotic, crime-infested mess it has become. Americans deserve better out of their nation’s capital, and deployment of the National Guard to restore order to its streets is a pivotal first step in that direction. The municipal government of D.C. has conceded that crime has fallen dramatically since the Guard’s arrival, yet they sued to stop the President’s deployment of the Guard anyway.
“This case does not belong in a courthouse. The fight belongs in the halls of Congress and at the ballot box. Washington, D.C., cannot sue the very federal government that is a part of it. D.C. is not and can never become a state, regardless of how desperately extremists on the far left want it to be.
“It is unfortunate that the Department of Justice did not argue this in court on behalf of the entire United States of America despite every chance to do so. So we did for them. We will stay in the fight on all fronts to ensure that our Nation’s Capitol is safe, free, and beautiful for America 250.”
Read our brief: static.itsyourgov.org/OP_CADC_Amicus.pdf
Watch Oversight Project Attorney Sam Dewey break the case down on OAN: