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WASHINGTON, D.C. – America First Legal (AFL), alongside co-counsel Boyden Gray PLLC, has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit urging the Court to immediately stay the district court’s order blocking the continued deployment of National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C. — a decision that would reverse dramatic progress in restoring public safety and undermine the public interest. This filing follows the brief AFL filed in September, emphasizing to the district court how the National Guard’s presence has served the public interest.
AFL’s brief emphasizes that the district court’s ruling threatens to undo months of palpable, hard-won improvements in safety across the District. Thanks to the presence of the National Guardsmen, D.C. residents can now walk at night, ride the Metro, and leave home without fear. The brief further explains that:
Violent crime has fallen by nearly 50 percent compared to the same period last year. Carjackings dropped to their lowest level since 2020, from 88 last August to just 10 in August 2025. Emergency calls have increased by 18 percent, reflecting restored public confidence in law enforcement. Residents have reported a dramatic shift in their ability to move safely through the city.
Despite overwhelming evidence of improved safety, the City Attorney General has sought to characterize the deployment as a “military occupation.” Yet even Mayor Muriel Bowser has publicly credited the deployment with causing an “extreme reduction” in violent crime and increasing public cooperation with law enforcement. AFL’s brief underscores that this lawsuit is a clear political stunt brought by the D.C. City Attorney General to appease leftwing pundits and activists, despite the Mayor’s objection, and in direct contradiction to what residents on the ground are actually experiencing. The City Attorney General’s rhetoric has done nothing to protect D.C. residents.
In reality, the law is clear: the President has unquestionable constitutional and statutory authority to deploy the National Guard to a federal district to enforce federal law and protect the public. AFL’s filing makes plain that media theatrics and partisan outrage cannot erase that authority or justify tearing down one of the measures that has actually made our Nation’s capital safer.
“For the first time in years, regular Washingtonians are starting to feel safe again,” said Gene Hamilton, President of America First Legal. “You can see it in the data, you can feel it on the streets: carjackings are down, violent crime is down, people are calling the police again. The district court’s ruling would rip all of that away to appease activists and talking heads. The D.C Circuit should allow the National Guard to keep doing what works.”
America First Legal will continue to stand with the residents of Washington, D.C., defend the President’s lawful authority, and fight to ensure that public safety — not
ideological posturing — remains the first duty of government.
Read the amicus brief here.
Read more about AFL’s work to defend the deployment of National Guardsmen here.
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