D.C. Guard chief declines offer to stay past inauguration

WASHINGTON — The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump asked the head of the District of Columbia National Guard to remain in command throughout Inauguration Day after media reports that he would leave in the middle of the ceremony created controversy, the Guard said.

Maj. Gen. Errol Schwartz told The Washington Post on Friday that he will be removed from his post immediately after Trump is sworn in as president. That irked at least one D.C. Council member because Schwartz will have to abandon his post during one of the Guard’s most important operations, helping maintain security and order during Washington’s highest-profile event.

As is customary for presidential appointees, Schwartz had offered his resignation after Trump was elected. In an interview Friday, Schwartz said he learned he would be replaced on Jan. 20. He said the transition team ultimately asked him to stay in the job for a few additional days, but only after the report of his departure had been published Friday on The Washington Post website.

Schwartz said he turned down the transition team’s offer because, by then, he had begun packing up his office and notified his staff. He said he believes the offer came only as a result of the negative attention his departure attracted. He declined to comment further. Transition officials for the new administration on Friday said the team asked Schwartz to stay on through the inauguration to maintain continuity. They did not immediately respond Saturday to questions about when and how that offer was extended.

Military officials on Saturday backtracked from earlier statements indicating that Schwartz had not been asked to stay on by the new administration. One said he learned that he had been mistaken and that additional paperwork that became available Saturday showed that the transition team had in fact asked Schwartz to maintain his command for several days into the new presidency. That official did not know when that offer was made.

Another senior military official said he believed the offer had come before Friday.

Brig. Gen. William J. Walker, who also has been involved with inauguration planning, has been named Schwartz’s interim replacement. He will take command on Friday at 12:01 p.m.

That moment, when the new president is sworn in, is the standard time for many political appointees to step out of their jobs as a new administration takes over.

Unlike in states, where the governor appoints the National Guard commander, in the District that duty falls to the president.