Federal Courts and Justice Department

A federal appeals panel issued an administrative stay of Judge Jia Cobb’s order that had barred the Trump administration from unilaterally using the D.C. National Guard for crime-control operations or calling up out‑of‑state Guard members, saying the stay should not be construed as a ruling on the merits while it considers a longer-term pause and leaving the Guard deployed for now; the District’s attorney general is suing to bar deployments without the mayor’s consent. The administration ordered an additional 500 Guard personnel after the Nov. 27 ambush that killed two Guardsmen — Arkansas is sending 100 — while states such as West Virginia say roughly 170 Guardsmen remain in D.C. on volunteer rotations and have not asked to leave, and their governor has not committed to the surge and will consult Guard leadership; the White House says the president acted lawfully.