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Exclusive / Trump’s DC takeover has a murky deadline

Eleanor Mueller
Eleanor Mueller
Congress Reporter, Semafor
Aug 20, 2025, 5:39am EDT
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
Al Drago/Reuters

The White House has no timeline for how long National Guard troops will remain in Washington, press secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated Tuesday, heightening the uncertainty that surrounds President Donald Trump’s plans for the federal takeover of the capital.

Current law allows the president to control the city’s policy force for 30 days unless Congress authorizes an extension, but Senate Democrats plan to block any such attempt — and some Republicans don’t sound like they’re itching for a fight.

“I don’t see anything like that happening for us up here,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said. “We might get involved at a certain point — but I don’t think we will.”

He added that he anticipated more states to rotate in their National Guard troops in the meantime to give cops and soldiers stationed in DC “a little time off.”

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