SC National Guard deployment to D.C. challenged in state Supreme Court. Here’s why

A local nonprofit and Lowcountry Navy veteran want the state Supreme Court to pull 300 South Carolina National Guard members from Washington, D.C., according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The lawsuit argues the deployment of state National Guard members to Washington, on the grounds of President Donald Trump’s crime fighting agenda, is illegal under state law.

The South Carolina Public Interest Foundation, a legal nonprofit, filed the complaint against Gov. Henry McMaster and Adjutant General Robin B. Stilwell in the state Supreme Court on Wednesday. James Weninger, a Navy veteran from Berkeley County, is also a plaintiff, according to court documents. They are represented by the ACLU of South Carolina and Democracy Forward, a national legal nonprofit.

“South Carolina’s National Guardsmen should not be asked to undertake illegal deployments, or be used to score political points by our government,” Weninger said in a news release published by the ACLU of South Carolina.

McMaster first approved sending the state National Guard members to Washington in August to support Trump’s executive order planning to crack down on crime. The National Guard returned to the nation’s capitol again in December for a 90-day deployment.

The members patrolled popular areas of Washington and assisted law enforcement for several weeks in August and September, according to a news release from the South Carolina National Guard.

The complaint argued the governor had limited authority to deploy the National Guard under state law. The governor can only deploy members under specific circumstances when it is under state jurisdiction, which are not satisfied by Trump’s executive order, the complaint argues.

Plaintiffs asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to issue an injunction to end the current deployment of members and ban the governor from authorizing future deployments under the Trump executive order.

McMaster spokesperson Brandon Charochak said the governor had the legal authority to deploy the National Guard to “save and protect American lives, defend the homeland and assist in enforcing the rule of law” in an emailed statement. A spokesperson for South Carolina National Guard declined to comment on ongoing litigation.

This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 12:28 PM.