Vice President JD Vance praised the National Guard’s success in reducing crime in Washington over the past nine days and hinted their mission could last beyond 30 days.
“We are seeing really substantial effects because these guys are busting their a–,” Vance said while meeting with National Guard troops at Washington’s Union Station on Wednesday. “Right here in Union Station, you have vagrants, you have drug addicts, you have the chronically homeless, you have the mentally ill who harass, who threatened violence, who attacked families. And they’ve done it for far too long. This should be a monument to American greatness.”
The deployment began Aug. 11, when President Trump also moved to federalize D.C.’s police force. The 1973 Home Rule Act allows federal control of D.C.’s police for up to 30 days, after which Congress must approve any extension. The law places no such limits on deploying the D.C. National Guard.
Trump said the goal is to reduce crime quickly but noted “we’re going to want extensions.” Vance added that Trump will decide on extensions based on progress in the coming weeks.
“We’ll ultimately let the president of the United States determine where we are after 30 days of this, of this emergency order. I think that we’re going to make a lot of progress over the next 20 days,” Vance said. “I think we’re nine days into this thing. But if the president of the United States thinks that he has to extend his order to ensure that people have access to public safety, then that’s exactly what he’ll do. If he thinks he doesn’t have to do that, obviously we’ll make that determination.”
In just the past 9 days, we’ve seen a 35% reduction in violent crime and a 50% reduction in robberies because of President Trump’s leadership.
Glad I could stop by Union Station and thank the countless National Guardsmen busting their asses to clean up our nation’s capital. pic.twitter.com/Gx509bHP2U
— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 20, 2025
Washington officials filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the Trump administration’s federal takeover of local police, with D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb: “By illegally declaring a takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
Alongside the D.C. National Guard, troops from Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee have joined the Trump administration’s crackdown in Washington, with about 1,300 already deployed.
