Overview
- A coalition including the Brennan Center and League of Women Voters sent a letter on Tuesday urging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to pull Michigan National Guard troops from Washington, D.C., saying the forces are being misused.
- Video and activist reports show Michigan guardsmen standing in Georgetown and other neighborhoods more than a mile from the National Mall, with one member saying they were there “to help people and support law enforcement.”
- Michigan troops have been formally assigned to the Joint Task Force–District of Columbia, creating uncertainty over whether state limits on mission use can be enforced while forces are under federal task-force command.
- Whitmer sent a June 29 letter directing the Michigan Guard to work only on America 250 events and warned she will end the deployment if misuse continues; Minnesota has pulled its contingent early and Kentucky recalled one member.
- The dispute builds on an August 2025 emergency order that created the long-running D.C. Guard mission, has prompted state lawsuits and civil-rights complaints, and raises questions about normalizing militarized policing ahead of November elections.