“South Carolina National Guard will conduct a relief-in-place with the Georgia National Guard and expects its soldiers to return home to South Carolina before the end of the month,” Maj. Karla N. Evans told Statehouse Report in a Sept. 11 email. Henry McMaster authorized the Washington deployment on Aug. 16, after President Donald Trump declared a “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital. “The men and women of the National Guard represent the principles that keep our country strong, and I am grateful for their commitment to public safety and the security of vulnerable citizens,” Scott said. As president, Trump has significant authority over the federal district in Washington, including direct command of its National Guard, which legal experts say has provided a legal basis for the D.C. deployments. “It’s incredibly unfortunate that our National Guard is being used as political props,” Sutton said in a Sept. 10 interview.