by Alander Rocha, Georgia Recorder, [This article first appeared in the Georgia Recorder, republished with permission]

September 8, 2025

Democratic state lawmakers are asking Gov. Brian Kemp to recall Georgia National Guard members recently sent to Washington.

Kemp announced on Friday that Georgia is sending about 300 soldiers and up to 16 support staff to Washington to assist in Trump’s crime crackdown, despite crime in Washington being at a 30-year low. A group of Georgia Democrats on Monday wrote in a letter to Kemp that the move “demonstrates blind loyalty to a leader who is effectively turning America towards autocracy.”

“We, the undersigned legislators, are gravely concerned with this decision to send troops to occupy another state or district in our union, and we believe it is setting a dangerous, unsound precedent. Sending armed soldiers to invade American cities under the guise of fighting crime, is a blatant abuse of power,” the letter stated, signed by 31 House and Senate Democrats.

A message seeking comment was left with the governor’s office.

The letter stated the move does not promote public safety. Instead, it “is an unprecedented, unscrupulous power grab that undermines states’ rights,” the Democrats wrote.

The letter also states that deploying Georgia troops to another state conflicts with the Constitution because it does not grant “the power, nor the authority, to send Georgia’s National Guard troops into another jurisdiction that does not consent.”

“Georgia cannot invade another state or district, even at the president’s request,” the letter stated.

The Trump administration was sued last week by D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb over the ongoing presence of National Guard troops in Washington, arguing the deployment amounts to a military occupation and violates the district’s right to self-rule.

Democrats also raised concerns about the cost of the deployment. Since the Georgia National Guard is not a federalized force, they argued that Georgia taxpayers will pay the cost of sending troops to Washington and asked Kemp to provide the estimated cost of the deployment, along with the scope and scale and a timeline of the mission.

“Georgia doesn’t need or want an authoritarian governor unilaterally sending our Georgia troops to augment Trump’s political agenda. We demand an immediate recall and reversal of this policy,” Georgia Democrats wrote.

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