Justices to determine if McMaster exceeded authority when sending SC National Guard troops to D.C.
CLEMSON, SC (WOLO) — Tuesday morning, as part of a special program for Clemson University students, justices with the South Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments inside the school’s Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.
The hearing regarded the legality of sending South Carolina’s National Guard Troops to Washington D.C. Plaintiffs contend that Governor Henry McMaster’s deployment guard members to D.C. exceed his legal authority.
The first deployment came under the direction of President Donald Trump in August of 2025 — who said he wanted guard members to help clean up the streets of D.C. and help crack down on crime.
Filed by the SC Public Interest Foundation, the overall concern is if the governor has the authority to deploy the SC National Guard outside of the state — if those reasons are mostly for beautification projects of another city.
Allen Chaney, Legal Director for the American Civil Liberties Union South Carolina, argued that guard members were forbidden from actual policing under “Operation Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful,” asking the justices, “How can guard members help with the “safe” part, if they have no authority to make an arrest?”
Chaney also argued that South Carolina law only allows the governor to deploy the guard under certain conditions — including war, insurrection, rebellion, and imminent threats.
In a statement, the ACLU saying none of these conditions have existed in the nation’s capital during any of McMaster’s deployments calling them a “shameful political stunt.”
However, Grayson Lambert, Senior Legal Counsel to Governor McMaster, argued that the presence of guard members, alone, helps thwart crime — and there is nothing within state law or the Constitution that prevents McMaster from sending troops for reasons that President Trump sees fit. Lambert added, “There is over 230 years of evidence of the Guard being deployed for various reasons.”
Governor McMaster addressed the hearing during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, saying, “There’s no limit in writing in the Constitution or in federal law that restricts it to the state. In fact during a hurricane we send our troops to other states and other states send their troops here, we have an agreement written up and signed in advance to do just that, so I don’t think this lawsuit is gonna get to first base, frankly, because I think the clarity, what I think is clear in the law — now.”
Guard members could face deployment to D.C. again this December. McMaster added, “As long as the president is asking, then we’ll do our part to keep the people of D.C. safe.”
No word yet on when the justices are expected to make a ruling on the hearing.
