Ohio National Guard to end Washington deployment as February 28 deadline nears amid ongoing legal fight

Ohio troops preparing to leave the District

Ohio’s National Guard contingent deployed to Washington, D.C. is scheduled to return home in February, as the current federal order keeping National Guard forces in the capital runs through Feb. 28, 2026. Gov. Mike DeWine said the Ohio deployment will end in February, signaling the state will not continue its participation beyond that timeframe.

Ohio has maintained about 150 Guard members in Washington as part of a broader, multi-state presence that began in August 2025, when the president declared a public-safety emergency in the District. The mission has been framed federally as support for public safety and protection of federal property, with Guard members assigned to visible patrol and support roles.

From short-term support to repeated extensions

Ohio’s deployment was originally described as time-limited, with initial expectations that troops would return shortly after the Thanksgiving period in 2025. That timeline shifted after the federal government extended the overall mission through Feb. 28, 2026. Ohio officials have said the state has rotated personnel during the deployment to manage the burden on service members’ civilian jobs and families.

State officials have also emphasized that Ohio did not draw from law enforcement personnel for the mission, aiming to avoid reducing staffing for local police and sheriffs’ offices back home.

Scale and duties in Washington

In Washington, the National Guard presence has included District Guard forces alongside units from multiple states. Duties have ranged from security and presence patrols around federal sites and transit areas to non-law-enforcement tasks such as maintenance and beautification work on public property.

• Ohio deployment size: approximately 150 Guard members
• Federal extension end date: Feb. 28, 2026
• Mission scope: support to law enforcement and protection of federal functions and property

Legal challenge continues to shape the broader dispute

The deployment has been the subject of ongoing litigation over the federal government’s authority to use National Guard troops in the District in this manner. District officials have argued the operation exceeds lawful limits and undermines local self-government under the Home Rule framework, while the administration has defended the mission as lawful and necessary for public safety.

A federal court has previously found the deployment unlawful in a ruling that ordered an end to the mission, but appellate action has allowed the continued presence of troops while the case proceeds. As of early February 2026, the broader legal fight remains unresolved, even as Ohio signals its portion of the deployment is nearing its endpoint.

The current federal order authorizing the Guard presence in Washington is set to run through Feb. 28, 2026, and Ohio officials say their troops will be home by the end of February.

What happens next

Ohio’s planned withdrawal aligns with the existing end date of the federal order but does not, on its own, determine whether National Guard forces from other jurisdictions will remain or whether the mission will be extended again. Any further continuation would depend on new federal action and the trajectory of the court challenges that have accompanied the deployment since it began.