Court weighs President Trump's power to deploy National Guard to DC

Well, tonight, a high stakes legal battle in the district reaching a boiling point. A federal appeals court weighing who really holds the power to deploy the National Guard on district streets. Fox 5's chief legal correspondent, Katie Barlow, has the latest from court. Well, we're here outside Congress Heights Metro Station, where Free D.C. actually held a protest against the National Guard being here right next to Bard High School. You can see the National Guard troops right behind me, right next to the high school. But switching gears to today's oral argument, which centered on their presence in Washington, D.C., the question in that case is whether the president has the power to unilaterally deploy the National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. And the three-judge panel who heard the case, comprising an Obama, Biden and Clinton appointee, asked pointed questions of both sides during over two hours of oral argument this morning. And the Trump administration argues that if D.C. wins the case here, then the National Guard actually can't be deployed for some of the things that D.C. has relied on them for in the past, including natural disasters, inaugurations and major demonstrations. D.C. National Guard deployed during Hurricane Katrina to help with the disaster relief efforts. They've been deployed during pandemics. Mayor Bowser herself requested deployment of the D.C. National Guard during the COVID pandemic, and the Guard was activated to assist with the pandemic relief efforts. At least one judge was skeptical of that argument from DOJ. All three judges challenged D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwab's argument that President Trump doesn't have at least some authority to deploy the National Guard in D.C. Schwab spoke briefly to the press after argument without taking any questions. For over a year now, there have been more than thousands of National Guard on the streets of the District of Columbia who are not from the District of Columbia, but from other states. And they have spread fear and apprehension and confusion by patrolling near our schools, by deploying near our election drop boxes, by marching through our neighborhoods. Schwab invoked a recent viral video showing National Guard troops standing right next to D.C. ballot drop boxes that were set up ahead of the midterm elections. Some D.C. residents are concerned that the president will use the National Guard troops to intimidate voters. The D.C. Board of Elections has asked the guard to stay at least 50 feet away from those ballot boxes between now and Election Day. And as far as the case goes, that three-judge panel is not on a clock. they don't have a deadline. So their decision in this case could come down at any time.