With no end in sight, National Guard troops deployed to DC grow weary

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Sep 4, 2025, 5:00 AM ET


With each phone call home, the troops describe a mission unlike any other. One soldier from Tennessee told his father that from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. every day, his only task is to walk around Chinatown. Another service member from Mississippi told a loved one that she’d been repeatedly cursed at while on patrol. During a call to his wife, a guardsman from Louisiana said there was confusion about what the military was actually doing there.

“We haven’t gotten critically low on morale, but we’re falling fast,” said one soldier who, like others quoted in this story, spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak to the media and feared reprisal.

Of the more than 2,200 National Guard soldiers President Donald Trump deployed to Washington, DC, last month, in addition to a wave of federal law enforcement, roughly 1,300 are from out of state. Guard members on the DC mission and their relatives who spoke to CNN said they left behind civilian jobs and children to serve – a sacrifice they understood when they enlisted.

And while domestic missions typically have National Guard troops responding to crises like hurricanes or wildfires, in DC, much of their work has involved more mundane tasks – patrolling popular tourist destinations and assisting with “beautification projects” including picking up trash, raking leaves and laying mulch.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/04/politics/national-guardsmen-deployed-to-dc-balance

[Bread and Circuses]

1. Hopefully word spreads among the Military

[HarryM]

31. It will never get to the head of the military

Donny’s DUI hire is the head, rotting the image of the military every day he remains there

[bamagal62]

2. Ages ago,

My husband was in the Guard. Both of us would have been super pissed about this assignment.

[maxsolomon]

3. The foot patrols are probably helping lower violent crime, albeit temporarily.

I wouldn't go out jacking cars or conducting drive-by shootings if there were armed soldiers on my street.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. But they haven't been deployed in those areas where that is happening

They are mostly roaming around the actual "federal district" locations where the tourists are so they can be seen "on teevee".

[BaronChocula]

6. Here's a Mother Jones article which backs up what you're saying

The National Guard Soldier Pissed About Trump’s DC Takeover
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/national-guard-morale-dc-takeover-interview-soldiers-pissed-angry/

[BumRushDaShow]

7. Thanks!

I sub to them and they had a link to that in their newsletter that I got in my email this afternoon! :thumbup:

[Captain Zero]

16. They could stroll over to the whitehouse

And remove Trump from it.

[BaronChocula]

24. If I had a dime for every time I thought that

I'd be getting a huge trump tax cut.

[BidenRocks]

28. If ya need something to do and can't figure out what that is,

all I can say is, Ya Missed A Spot!

[maxsolomon]

9. Not surprised.

Most of the "dangerous" areas of DC are across the Anacostia River.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. My mom had gone to Howard her first 2 years of college in the early '50s

and she would occasionally talk about parts of D.C. along Florida Avenue as a no-go.

[bronxiteforever]

4. Their Governors bent the knee to Trump. If they voted

for the complicit GOP Governors, then the fault is on their own head. Their Governors decided to make them political pawns. Regardless they should blame their own states’leadership for their deployment.

[Hekate]

20. What about Los Angeles, California?

[bronxiteforever]

35. Their Governor is fighting it in court

UNLIKE the other Governors and there were no California Guardsmen in the District. That was the Tennessee guard etc. The compliant Governors were willing to send the Guard so the comparison does not hold.

https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/west-virginia-to-deploy-hundreds-of-national-guard-troops-to-d-c/

[angrychair]

8. Screw them

I hope it's miserable and awful and every second complete shit.
They are there to terrorize innocent people and have guns aimed at American citizens. Fuck them.

The issues are easy to fix: go home.

[reACTIONary]

12. What do you mean by go home? Do you mean to go AWOL and desert?

A National Guard member caught deserting faces serious consequences including dishonorable discharge, loss of all pay and benefits, reduction to the lowest enlisted grade, and potential imprisonment for years, with penalties varying based on factors like intent and duration of absence. Failure to report for duty can escalate from "Absent Without Leave" (AWOL) to desertion after 30 days, and may result in a warrant for arrest upon encountering law enforcement, leading to immediate apprehension

[angrychair]

14. The issues has been made clear

Structurally their mission is no different than it was in LA and even worse now because they are patrolling in DC with live ammunition, it's a clear violation of the posse comitatus act. They have every right to refuse an illegal order.
Because right now they are participating in an armed occupation of a US city as a hostile military force that has been authorized to kill Americans.

[reACTIONary]

15. That's your opinion... It may even be OUR opinion...

.... It could even, eventually, be the court's opinion. But I don't think it's the opinion of many of the troops in DC.

I don't expect them to end up in jail and suffer a stain on their reputation just because of my opinion. And even if they agreed with our assessment, I wouldn't expect them to do so.

The D.C. attorney general has sued to halt the National Guard deployment. That's the way to handle this.

[angrychair]

18. I saw the lawsuit

But was confused because it was right on the heels of the mayor praising Mango Mussolini and ordering cooperation.

[reACTIONary]

19. The dc attorney general an elected position, independent of the mayor....

The attorney general for the District of Columbia is the chief legal officer of the District of Columbia. While attorneys general previously were appointed by the mayor, District of Columbia voters approved a charter amendment in 2010 that made the office an elected position beginning in 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney_General_for_the_District_of_Columbia

§ 1–204.35. Election of the Attorney General. | D.C. Law Library

(a) The Attorney General for the District of Columbia shall be elected on a partisan basis by the registered qualified electors of the District. Nothing in this section shall prevent a candidate for the position of Attorney General from belonging to a political party.

https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/1-204.35

[TomSlick]

27. An order is illegal only if it is an order to commit a crime.

Individual soldiers are not expected to make close calls. If it's not clear that obedience of an order would require a criminal act, a soldier must obey. The order to deploy was not illegal. An order to walk a specific route is not illegal.

If given an unlawful order, a soldier has the duty to refuse the order but they do not have a right to desert.

The further up the rank structure, the higher the obligation to make the close calls. A commander with a Staff Judge Advocate (usually the O6 level and higher) should seek legal advise on close calls. If I was the SJA for a commander given an order to enforce civil law, I would advise, in writing, that relaying the order down the chain-of-command would be a criminal offense (two year maximum sentence) and that the statute of limitations is likely five years (by which time Trump will be gone - on way or another).

[James48]

29. Except that

ANY law enforcement duty, domestically, runs afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act. It’s a two-year FELONY for a military person or Gusrd military person to arrest anyone, take anyone into custody, perform any investigation, etc. that’s all law enforcement duties, and illegal for people in U.S. military uniform.

[TomSlick]

37. The Posse Comitatus Act is based on command responsibility.

. . . it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws, except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the Constitution or by act of Congress. . . . (Emphasis added)

The PCA does not purport to criminalize participation in violations of the statute by private soldiers. How far down the chain of command the power to "employ" the military in law enforcement reaches is a difficult question. If I was making the call, I would stop at levels of command that have Staff Judge Advocates - usually O6 and higher commands.

[LeftInTX]

36. Thanks for the explanation.

Obviously, picking up garbage is not illegal. It's just tedious and a waste of taxpayers money.


However, if Trump would order a curfew of 10 pm with orders to kill everyone outside after 10 pm, would probably be an illegal order.

[Hekate]

21. They are National Guard, not Trump's personal thugs in ICE. They help in national disasters...

…fires, floods, hurricanes. This is NOT their choice or their doing.

EVERYTHING TRUMP TOUCHES, DIES

[angrychair]

25. Everyone has choices

The people you are sympathetic too are federalized national guard that are heavily armed and authorized to kill American citizens on US soil.
Excuse me if I'm not sympathetic with people holding a city hostage at the point of a gun.

[Hekate]

26. Then aim your blame to the leaders actually responsible

[IcyPeas]

11. Optics ... thats all that matters to president bonespurs

[AverageOldGuy]

13. They are not there to deal with crime

They are there as a dry run for Trump's use of the military to seize voting equipment and records during and after the November 2026 and 2028 elections.

After it was clear he lost the 2020 election, Trump demanded that then Secretary of Defense Esper and Attorney General Barr use the military to seize voting equipment and records.

An executive order was drafted in December 2020 citing phony claims about election fraud and voting machines. The order, complete with a dotted line ready for Trump's signature, directed the SECDEF to "seize, collect, retain and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records required for retention" under a law that relates to preserving election records. Fortunately, Esper and Barr stood firm and Trump backed down.

Today, the SECDEF and AG are Trump toadies who are partners in his scheme to end free elections.

Earlier, several times on the 2024 campaign trail, Trump told his audiences to vote in 2024 and “you won’t need to vote again.” Now we are seeing his scheme come together -- this is just practice.

[Rebl2]

17. Hopefully

many quit the national guard when their time to serve is up.

[Hekate]

22. They decide to not re-up, in that case, and is already happening. That's a major diff from going AWOL.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

33. Any time you see one in action shout "Is this what you signed up for?" . . . . nt

[Crowman2009]

23. I feel bad for those soldiers who didn't vote for the Orange assclown, as for the MAGAssclown soldiers who did....

......here's my tiny violin solo:

[MadMike47]

30. Be discreet

Treat the grunts nicely. Throw sandwiches at the officers.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

32. Shout at Nat Guards: "Is this what you signed up for? Is this a good use of your time and body?" . . . . nt

[Woodwizard]

34. Unless you are trained as a MP

Soldiers are not trained to be police. This will eventually end up badly at some point.