Democratic members of Congress expressed their outrage following the news of the D.C. National Guard’s imminent deployment in the capital.
Represenative Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. congressional delegate, called the Trump administration’s action, “an historic assault on D.C. home rule.”
Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey said in a statement that the federalization of the National Guard is Trump “gaslighting the American people so he can seize more power.”
On X, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland wrote, “Trump’s raw authoritarian power grab in DC is part of a growing national crisis. He’s playing dictator in our nation’s capital as a dress rehearsal as he pushes democracy to the brink. This assault on freedom is exactly why we’ve fought for DC statehood & to give DC control of its National Guard.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also rejected the president’s premise that crime in Washington, D.C. is out of control:
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware used Trump’s move to question his handling of the January 6 rioters. “Crime in DC is at record lows. If Trump is really worried about crime in the capital, then why was one of his first acts as president to pardon hundreds of cop-beaters and violent criminals who participated in the January 6 riot in Washington?,” he wrote on X.
