Phil Scott rejects Trump administration request to use Vermont national guard in president’s DC crackdown

Vermont National Guard soldiers at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Gov. Phil Scott has turned down a second request from President Donald Trump’s administration in as many months to use members of the Vermont National Guard to carry out elements of the White House’s controversial domestic policy agenda.

The Department of Defense last week asked Scott for “a few dozen” troops it could deploy to Washington, D.C., as part of the president’s sweeping push to crack down on crime in the city, Vermont Public reported Friday. But the governor said no, telling the Pentagon he didn’t think the request was an appropriate use of the guard’s resources, according to the news outlet.

Dustin Degree, a spokesperson for Scott’s office, referred VTDigger to the Vermont Public story in response to a request for comment Friday afternoon. He declined to be interviewed or answer questions about the governor’s decision.

Trump has ordered hundreds of troops onto the streets of the nation’s capital in recent days and moved to assert federal control over the city’s police department. At a press conference Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said states could be called on to reinforce the city’s national guard, if needed. On Friday, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the Trump administration over its efforts to take control of the local police force.

In late July, Scott rejected a separate request from the Trump administration to allow a dozen Vermont guard troops to do clerical work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the federal agency’s field office in St. Albans.