COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster authorized deploying 200 National Guard members from South Carolina to Washington to support the Trump administration’s policing of the nation’s capital.
According to McMaster’s office, his order Saturday was requested by the Pentagon. The soldiers left Monday.
They will be the first non-District of Columbia National Guard members arriving in Washington for the initiative, according to a guard spokesperson.
McMaster is among four Republicans authorizing deployments, as of Monday. The others are governors of Mississippi, Ohio and West Virginia, who’s sending the most: up to 400 guardsmen.
The troops are activated under Title 32, or “federal-state status” authority, which means the federal government pays for their deployment, but the governor remains in control.
McMaster said he will bring the troops back immediately if a hurricane or other natural disaster threatens the state.
“South Carolina is proud to stand with President Trump as he works to restore law and order to our nation’s capital and ensure safety for all who live, work, and visit there,” McMaster said in a statement.
The soldiers heading to Washington are part of the 4-118th Combined Arms Battalion commanded by Lt. Col. Javier Yudice. The mission will not diminish the guard’s ability to respond to in-state emergencies, should any arise, the guard said in a release.
“The South Carolina National Guard has a strong, established history of collaboration with state and federal law enforcement partners,” said Maj. Gen. Robin Stilwell, South Carolina’s adjutant general.
That includes prior missions in Washington requested by President Donald Trump. During his first term, South Carolina guard members were in the nation’s capital in summer 2020 to quell protests. They returned in January 2021 to secure the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
Trump asserted control of the Washington police force Aug. 11 and mobilized 800 National Guard troops after declaring a “crime emergency.” The memo he signed is titled “restoring law and order in the District of Columbia.”
It marked the first federal takeover since 1973, when the Home Rule Act allowed the city’s residents to elect their own mayor and city council. The law allows the president to take control when “special conditions of an emergency nature exist.” But it limits a takeover to 30 days, unless Congress passes a resolution extending the authority.
District officials sued Friday, arguing the Trump administration “far exceeded” its authority with an executive order making the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration the emergency police commissioner. In response, the Trump administration agreed to leave Washington’s police chief in charge of the city’s 3,400 officers.
But the lawsuit did not challenge Trump’s ability to deploy the 800 National Guard members. Since the district is not a state, the president has sole authority over National Guard units in the capital city.
Despite McMaster’s pledge to recall the soldiers if needed, state Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain called it reckless for McMaster to send 200 troops to Washington in the middle of hurricane season.
“The gall of Henry to think so little of our friends, neighbors and loved ones as to send our heroes away during the very time they are most needed here at home is a disgusting act of betrayal,” she said in a statement Sunday.
“South Carolinians know all too well how devastating a storm can be,” she continued. “Instead of putting South Carolina first, Governor McMaster has chosen political loyalty to Donald Trump over the safety and security of the people he was elected to serve.”
State Rep. John King also questioned the deployment and its costs.
“We are told federal reimbursement will cover the expenses, but history has shown there are always hidden costs that fall back on taxpayers,” the Rock Hill Democrat wrote Sunday in a letter to McMaster also sent out in a news release.
He called the deployment “political theater.”
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