Ohio Governor Sending National Guard to Assist in Fighting Crime in DC

President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are on a mission to curb crime in the nation’s capital, and it turns out they’re getting an assist from Republican governors. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is among those announcing over the weekend that he would be sending the National Guard to help.

DeWine’s announcement that Ohio would assist came on Saturday, noting that 150 military police would be sent.

The Columbus Dispatch reported, quoting a statement from DeWine:

We have been asked by the Secretary of the Army to send 150 military police from the Ohio National Guard to support the District of Columbia National Guard.

These Ohio National Guard members will carry out presence patrols and serve as added security. None of these military police members are currently serving as law enforcement officers in the state of Ohio.

The governor also framed the matter as doing what the Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll had asked.

“The initial decision to deploy D.C. National Guard was not my decision. That was the president of the United States’ decision,” The Columbus Dispatch quoted the governor as saying in a subsequent article. “But when the secretary of the Army asks for backup support to our troops that are already deployed, yes, we will back up our troops.”

The Daily Signal reached out to the governor’s office for further comment.

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio—DeWine’s former lieutenant governor, who was appointed to fill now Vice President JD Vance’s vacated Senate seat—quickly praised the governor for the decision. Husted himself also made news on Monday, as he now formally faces an election challenge from former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Brown, a Democrat who lost last November to now-Sen. Bernie Moreno, on Monday formally announced a 2026 Senate comeback bid.

Moreno’s office also provided The Daily Signal with a statement of support. “Crime in our nation’s capital is out of control, and local leaders have proven themselves to be unable to keep the city safe. Sen. Moreno is grateful to President Trump for taking bold action to make D.C. a safe place to work and live, and glad Gov. DeWine is sending the president backup from our great state,” said Reagan McCarthy, Moreno’s communications director.

The senator similarly shared his support last week about Trump’s invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act to involve the federal government in similar fashion.

DeWine is not the only governor to assist. Other states with Republican governors—notably, West Virginia and South Carolina—made similar announcements, indicating they were acting on requests from the Trump administration. Mississippi’s Republican governor, Tate Reeves, also noted Monday that his state would be heeding the call.

Trump’s plan to take on crime in the District of Columbia has resulted in a strong contrast in reactions from Republicans compared with those of Democrats, including those in the District itself. Muriel Bowser, D.C.’s Democratic mayor, has not only criticized the decision by the administration, but made headlines for recently heading off to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

In response to a question last week from The Daily Signal’s Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, Trump indicated that he plans to extend the federal government’s role in cracking down on crime in our nation’s capital.

Trump’s plan—and the reaction to it from those on the ground in the District—drew further reverberations in Ohio state politics. State Rep. Josh Williams, a Republican, spoke out against Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith’s reported confusion over “the chain of command” in the context of Smith being a diversity, equity, and inclusion hire.

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