Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, speaks during a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on December 11, 2025, as Chairman Roger Wicker looks on. The hearing examined the Trump administration’s deployment of the National Guard across the United States. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – U.S. lawmakers who oversee the division of armed forces policy along party lines on Thursday explored deploying the National Guard to cities across the country as part of what President Donald Trump describes as a crime-fighting strategy.
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned for nearly two and a half hours of high-level Defense Department officials, including the Pentagon’s No. 2 lawyer and the head of U.S. Northern Command, which oversees federally deployed National Guard troops.
The hearing on Capitol Hill came less than a month after a gunman shot and killed two West Virginia National Guard members in broad daylight outside a Washington, D.C., subway station, just a block from the White House.
US Army Sp. Sarah Beckstrom, 20 years elderly died of her injuries the next day, Thanksgiving Day, and Sgt. Staff of the US Air Force. Andrew Wolfe, 24, is recovering from critical injuries. A 29-year-old Afghan citizen who cooperated with American soldiers in Afghanistan accused with first degree murder.
Senators on the panel delivered bipartisan messages of support and gratitude for Beckstrom, Wolfe and their families, but divisions were perceptible about why and on what basis Trump has deployed guards in five American cities since June: Los Angeles; Washington, DC; Portland, OR; Chicago and Memphis, Tenn.
Trump too threatened send the guard to other places, including New York, Baltimore, St. Louis and New Orleans.
Trump first federalized the California National Guard in early June, deploying them to Los Angeles against the wishes of Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom, both Democrats.
Federal District Judge in California ruled The Trump administration must return troops to Newsom on Wednesday.
A federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled on November 20 – six days before Beckstrom and Wolfe attacked – that Trump’s deployment of the guard in the District was illegal. A federal appeals court cleared the service members remain in the district while the appeal is pending.
There have been other instances, including challenges to Trump’s deployment of the Guard in Oregon and Illinois related in court.
Counteracting crime
Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, opened the hearing by saying, “Violent crime, riots, drug trafficking and heinous gang activity have continued to increase in recent years,” citing the Department of Justice.
For that reason, he said, Trump “has ordered an immediate and coordinated response by deploying the National Guard to some of the most dangerous cities in our country.”
“No wonder Democratic governors and left-wing pundits have condemned these deployments,” the Mississippi Republican said, dismissing any concerns as “contrived and misguided.”
While collecting true crime statistics is a challenge – because many crimes go unreported – murders, rapes, assaults and robberies decreased nationwide in 2024, according to the FBI. latest crime statistics.
The data shows too According to the Pew Research Center, property and violent crime in the U.S. declined between 1993 and 2022.
However, the analysis showed attitudes towards the division of crime based on party affiliation.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., argued Thursday that it’s not unusual for guards to be placed in cities across the United States.
He asked Charles Young III, principal deputy general counsel at the Department of Defense, to explain how the process works.
Young, pointing to a stack of books on the table, said the examples were “extensive.”
“Instead of bringing in soldiers from the regular army or its active component… The Founding Fathers wanted to resort to using the National Guard because they were citizens and they came from committed communities. And these books that I have here are simply books about the role of federal armed forces in domestic unrest,” he said.
– Is this a legal order?
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois National Guard veteran who claimed she pushed for the hearing, delivered Democratic opening remarks sharply criticizing Trump’s deployment of the guards.
Duckworth said Beckstrom’s death and Wolfe’s injuries “should not have happened at all.”
“Military service comes with risks, and our Soldiers accept those risks knowingly and selflessly. So we better be damn sure the mission is the right one,” said Duckworth, who lost her legs and has partial operate of her right arm in Iraq when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade
Duckworth and other Democratic senators on the panel questioned the legality of Trump’s guard deployment and charged that the president used a show of force to restrict public demonstrations and free speech.
Duckworth recalled Trump Day on September 30 speech military generals in Quantico, Virginia, when he stated that the administration should operate American cities as “a training ground for our army, the National Guard, but military, because we are going to Chicago soon.”
In the same speech, Trump said Democrat-run cities were “in bad shape” and “it’s a war from within.”
Back to reports that Trump asked former Defense Secretary Mark Esper about shooting protesters in 2020, Duckworth asked: “Let’s say the president gave that order. That’s what he said. Is that a legal order?”
“Senator, the orders you issue will depend on the circumstances,” Young responded.
“We have a president who doesn’t believe the rule of law applies to him and wants to show strength,” Duckworth responded.
Sen. Jack Reed, a committee member, took a similar line of questioning, asking Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, “If the president declared an organization, a terrorist organization … and you were ordered to attack it on American soil, would you obey that order?”
“Sen. Reed, as with every order I issue, I would evaluate it, consult with the legal authorities to ensure it is a lawful order, and if I have any questions, I will forward them to the Chairman and Secretary, whom I always welcome,” Guillot said.
“If I had no objections and was sure that the order was lawful, I would definitely obey this order.”
Reed noted that Guillot was present during Trump’s speech at Quantico.
“The president has essentially indicated that you should be prepared to conduct military operations in the United States against a domestic enemy. Are you doing that?” he said.
“Sir, I have not been assigned any task that reflects what you just said,” Guillot replied.
Sen. Angus King, an independent who argues with Democrats, said he did not believe testimony Thursday by Mark Ditlevson, principal deputy secretary of defense for homeland defense, that Trump was “undoubtedly doing the right thing” and that the guard was cooperating with local authorities.
King, of Maine, said the testimony “was borderline humorous.”
“This didn’t happen in Illinois or California,” King said. “We’re talking about a broader issue here that I think is extremely dangerous, and the reason it’s particularly dangerous at this moment is because we have a president who has a very low bar for what constitutes an emergency.”
Target cities
Trump sent thousands of guard troops to Los Angeles after local immigration raids sparked protests that city officials said local law enforcement could handle without facilitate.
In DC he based his placement on “criminal emergency”, and the soldiers were deployed on the streets of the district as agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out weeks of raids, traffic stops and other actions as part of Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Residents of the district he protested deployment, and opposition posters, stickers, flags and graffiti appeared throughout the city.
Trump justified sending a guard to Portland by falsely claiming that the city “issmoking“
Officials in the District of Columbia and Tennessee have worked with the administration to bring the guards to their cities, which gives troopers the authority to support local law enforcement.
Illinois, Oregon and California officials refused to cooperate with the guard, resulting in an order limiting members only to duties related to the protection of federal property.
Trump previously activated the National Guard in the nation’s capital in response to protests in the summer of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
