Aside from the original 800 National Guard troops, six Republican-led states have supported the president’s effort by sending additional personnel, bringing the total deployment in D.C. to over 2,000.
The D.C. lawsuit follows a court victory by the Democratic-run U.S. state of California earlier this week.
On Tuesday, District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco ruled that the Trump administration violated a 19th-century law barring the use of soldiers for civilian law enforcement when it deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June.
Schwalb, a Democrat, noted that the National Guard deployment not only undermines public safety, but also hurts the district’s economy by depressing key sectors such as restaurants, hotels and tourism.