More than 160 members of the Oklahoma National Guard deployed to Washington, D.C., last week, just months after Gov. Kevin Stitt indicated his reluctance to send guardsmen out of state.

The voluntary, 90-day mission is part of President Donald Trump’s Safe and Beautiful initiative to increase law enforcement presence in the nation’s capital. Critics have argued the executive order amounts to federal overreach and that an increased military presence in the city is unnecessary. 

The federal government will pay for the deployment, according to Stitt’s office. That differs from 2023, when Oklahoma used $544,000 in funds typically reserved for National Guard response to natural disasters to send troops to the border in Texas.

In an October interview with The New York Times, Stitt criticized the deployment of national guard troops across state lines to cities such as Chicago and Portland, Oregon. 

“We believe in the federalist system; that’s states’ rights,” Stitt, who chairs the National Governors Association, told the outlet on Oct. 9. “Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.”

Stitt’s office maintains that the governor’s position has not changed, noting that the troops aren’t being deployed to another state. 

State Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa, was among the Democratic lawmakers to criticize the deployment, describing it as a maneuver to appease the Trump administration. 

“It is disingenuous of the Governor to claim he would not send the Oklahoma National Guard to DC and then change his mind months later without reason,” McCane said in a statement. “It is unnecessary and only ends up costing Oklahomans.”

The deployment came less than a week after a gunman shot West Virginia National Guard members Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom near the White House on Nov. 26. Beckstrom died from her injuries on Nov. 27, while Wolfe was severely injured and remains hospitalized. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in relation to the shooting. 

Thoughts, questions or story ideas? Let me know at Kross@Oklahomawatch.org.

— Keaton Ross

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