Army Secretary defends the National Guard in DC’s Crime Fight

Exclusive: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll Defends deploying the National Guard to Washington, D.C. to help combat violent crime, insisting that soldiers are “happy” to support their communities.

Driscoll said in an interview with Fox News Digital that DC Guards were “specially for the purpose of such missions and praised the 2,000 troops currently deployed, including 800 of DC and 1,200 of six other states. Driscoll saw these concerns as “flawed” despite some critics warning that “slippery slopes” were heading towards militarized policing.

“We are the richest country in world history and let our capital reflect this lack of standards for this high violence, which I think you will find in most other big cities in the world,” Driscoll said. “From the individual guards I’ve spoken to, they’re very happy to be able to carry out this mission.”

The Trump administration insists that the guard companies are working to support local and federal law enforcement agencies to combat DC crimes that began on August 7. This week, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth It was announced that some guards will be authorized to carry weapons while missions throughout the city.

Some National Guards are now equipped in Washington, D.C.

City leaders believe the Guards are to relieve stress from overstretched police forces, despite questions about the scope of the mission and how long the troops will remain on the streets. At the same time, advocates of civil liberties believe that deployment has the potential to normalize the use of military forces in civilian police. They warned that precedents could transcend the capital and continue to tension between communities and united forces.

“Most of the reports on the slippery landslides involved are flawed, misunderstanding the actual value the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Defense now provides for Washington, D.C. and our country,” Driscoll said.

The White House suggested that the military might soon deploy the guards to other cities such as Chicago and Baltimore.

Vance said the National Guard is “destroying their A-” in Washington, floating mission expansion

With the dome of the U.S. Capitol, members of the DC National Guard kept their observation outside Union Station on August 19, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/File Photo/Reuters)

army National Guard Historically, it was called out at times of civil strife or natural disasters, but rarely out of long-term crimes. The debate on the DC mission highlights the dual duty of the Guard – serving the Governor and the Federal Government of the Department of Defense in a domestic emergency.

The Biden administration had previously relied heavily on the Guards during the 19th pandemic and the January 6th Capitol riot, when thousands of troops were mobilized to secure the city.

(Spt. LukeSullivan/75th Ranger Group)

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Driscoll is anxious about the deployment that could undermine the situation where the guards are ready to deploy abroad when needed. “These are soldiers who live here,” he said. “Their families are here. They see the impact of crime in their communities and they are proud to be able to restore part of the security of the nation’s capital.”

For Driscoll, the mission reflects what he calls the actual use of the troops. “They contribute there every day, and the people in Washington, D.C. are safer,” he said.