Reading Room Document

Use of the National Guard to Support Drug Interdiction Efforts in the District of Columbia

Use of the District of Columbia National Guard, in its militia status, to support local drug law enforcement efforts is not prohibited by the Posse Comitatus Act. The activity may receive funding from the Secretary of Defense under section 1105 of the Defense Authorization Act if the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the District of Columbia National Guard, requests such financial assistance. Executive Order 11485 assigns the Attorney General the responsibility of establishing, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the law enforcement policies to be observed by the National Guard in these circumstances, but it does not assign the Attorney General any responsibility with respect to the policy decision of whether the National Guard should be assigned to the described use or any supervision and control responsibility for the implementation of such a decision. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/24191/download.

April 4, 1989