D.C. Circuit Okays National Guard Deployment; Judges Agree with Oversight Project that D.C. Cannot Sue President Trump
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2025
Washington, D.C. – Today, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals–widely known as the second highest court in the country–found that President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to keep our Nation’s capital safe was legal and authorized its continuation. Two of the judges on the panel, Circuit Judges Neomi Rao and Greg Katas, wrote separately agreeing with the Oversight Project that D.C. likely cannot sue the Federal Government. Their opinion tracked the same arguments The Oversight Project made in our brief urging the Court to throw the case out. This is a HUGE win in the battle against D.C. Government overreach and in advancing President Trump’s agenda to make D.C. great again for America 250.
The Oversight Project stood alone to make this crucial argument to the court. We urged the Department of Justice to do so. When they didn’t, we jumped in to defend President Trump and law and order. Today’s result makes it more likely that D.C. can return to sanity and its proper place as a Federally-managed enterprise as opposed to another rogue blue city.
Watch Oversight Project President Mike Howell and Attorney Sam Dewey break down this issue:
Critically, the Judges themselves also recognized that DOJ really should have made this argument. They wrote:
In their motion for a stay, the Defendants [The Justice Department] did not object to the District’s standing. 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.
This is precisely why the Oversight Project had to step in for DOJ, to ensure this “important” argument was properly made. The Oversight Project looks forward to advancing the argument in this and related cases and stands ready to partner with DOJ to make arguments that aggressively advance the President’s mission to make D.C. great again.
Read the opinion here (page 30): https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/orders/docs/2025/12/25-5418LDSN3.pdf