A coalition of national and local civil society groups sent a letter on Tuesday urging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to withdraw Michigan National Guard troops from Washington, D.C., where they were sent to assist with security surrounding the capital’s events for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
But the letter says the troops are not actually being used for their stated purpose, citing a video that shows National Guard members who identify themselves as being from Michigan. They are seen standing on a street corner in the northwest D.C. neighborhood of Georgetown, over a mile from the closest part of the National Mall, where festivities were hosted.
One officer in the video, asked why he is there, says “to help people and support law enforcement.”
Organizations signing the letter include the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, Democracy Forward and the League of Women Voters of Michigan.
The letter’s authors also highlight that, though the brunt of the Independence Day weekend events are now past, Michigan’s National Guard troops are scheduled to be in D.C. through the end of August. They also note that other Democratic governors who sent forces to assist with the holiday, including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have withdrawn their state’s National Guard forces.
And while Michigan’s troops were sent to assist with the holiday, the letter notes that they have been “assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia (JTF-DC), the task force that was created in August 2025 for the purpose of coordinating National Guard support to local and federal law enforcement operations in DC.” That means they fall under the same chain of command as the National Guard’s “summer surge” operations, which are bringing thousands of additional troops to the District.
A spokesperson for Whitmer’s office said that her office was reviewing Tuesday’s letter, and referred to a letter sent on June 29 to Major General Paul D. Rogers, the head of the Michigan National Guard, in which Whitmer emphasized that Michigan National Guard troops are only to be used for operations surrounding America 250 celebrations.
However, that letter was not enough of a guarantee for the groups sending Tuesday’s letter.
“Perhaps most worrisome, the addition of Michigan’s Guard forces to the thousands of troops President Trump has already brought to DC threatens to normalize the misuse of the military perpetuated by this administration and allied governors,” the letter states. “That normalization poses heightened risks as we move toward the November elections.”
The letter comes one day after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it plans to oversee elections in at least three Michigan cities — Detroit, Lansing and East Lansing — part of a continued effort to assert federal control over local elections that has drawn serious concerns about election integrity and safety from officials nationwide.
The authors note that, for events on the scale of the America 250 celebrations in Washington, it might under past administrations have been normal for the president to request out-of-state national guard forces for assistance.
“But there is nothing normal about the way President Trump has used National Guard forces in the nation’s capital or other cities across the country, and no reason to trust his administration to use your Guard forces appropriately or even lawfully,” the letter continues.
