Norton Says Creation of New D.C. National Guard Brigade Underscores Need for Congress to Pass Her Bill Giving the D.C. Mayor Control of the Guard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Upon learning that a new brigade has been activatedin the D.C. National Guard (DCNG) to coordinate miliary support for civil authorities, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that the major structural change imposed without D.C.'s consent yet again underscores the need for Congress to pass her bill to give the D.C. mayor control of the DCNG. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is co-leading the bill in the House and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) leads the bill in the Senate.

"The D.C. National Guard should not be subject to major structural changes imposed without the input of the people it exists to protect," Norton said. "Unlike every state in the nation, where the governor controls the National Guard, the president has authority over the D.C. National Guard. As we saw on January 6th, 2021, when deployment of the DCNG was delayed for hours while District officials tried to contact the president, D.C.'s forced reliance on federal officials to deploy its own National Guard has real consequences for the safety of more than 700,000 people who call the District home. My bill to place the D.C. National Guard under the authority of the D.C. mayor would correct this inequity and align the District with the longstanding practice in every state. The people of the nation's capital deserve the same control over their Guard that Americans elsewhere have.

"After inciting a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, which also resulted in millions of dollars of property damage in D.C. neighborhoods, the irony of President Trump repeatedly citing his purported concern about public safety in the District is not lost on me.

"The creation of this new brigade and the activation of the D.C. National Guard without D.C.'s consent last fall underscore the necessity of D.C. statehood. Until D.C. gets the full protections that statehood would provide, my bill to give D.C.'s mayor control over the D.C. National Guard, like governors of states have over theirs, would place D.C. closer to having control over some of its most vital affairs and achieving equality with the states."

The District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act would name the mayor of Washington, D.C. as Commander-in-Chief of the D.C. National Guard, giving the mayor the same control over the D.C. National Guard that the governors of the states and the three territories with National Guards have over their respective National Guards. Under current law, the president is commander-in-chief of the D.C. National Guard.

###