Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is threatening to pull her state’s National Guard troops out of Washington, D.C. if the federal government redirects them to support President Trump’s immigration enforcement task force — a standoff that puts her at odds with the White House over troops she sent voluntarily.
Whitmer is one of four Democratic governors who dispatched National Guard members to the capital in recent weeks ahead of America 250 celebrations, the country’s upcoming 250th anniversary events. Those troops went with a specific mission. Whitmer says they’ll leave if that mission changes.
The dispute
Trump’s deployment of military and law enforcement personnel in Washington has drawn criticism since it began. The administration has used federal forces in the city in ways that Democrats — and some Republicans — have called an overreach. Whitmer’s threat sharpens that fight: she’s essentially daring the White House to reassign Guard members she controls as governor.
It isn’t clear whether the other three Democratic governors who sent troops face the same pressure or have issued similar warnings. Their identities weren’t immediately available.
The America 250 celebrations, marking the nation’s semiquincentennial, have drawn Guard deployments from multiple states. Whether those events proceed without disruption from the political fight over troop assignments remains an open question heading into the July 4th holiday week.
