Dc Sues Over Trump Administration’s Attempted Takeover Of City Police

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing the Trump administration after the Department of Justice ordered a new “emergency” head of District police, calling it “unlawful.”

"By illegally declaring a takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law,” Schwalb wrote in an X post Friday. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”

The suit, filed in federal court, is the biggest pushback from city officials since President Donald Trump invoked a provision of the Home Rule Act — the 1970s law that allows for limited self-governance by Washington’s government — that allows the president to request the Metropolitan Police Department’s services to address “special conditions of an emergency nature.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday issued an order that directed Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole to assume “all the powers and duties” of the city's police chief as the new "Emergency Police Commissioner," “effective immediately.”

Bondi’s order also purported to rescind or suspend several Washington police orders — including one issued by MPD Chief of Police Pamela Smith earlier on Thursday that allowed for limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and Schwalb — both Democrats elected by Washington residents — insisted late Thursday that Bondi could not legally disrupt the typical chain of command for MPD officers by requiring them to report to Cole.

“Therefore, members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor,” Schwalb wrote in a letter Thursday to Smith that was circulated by Bowser. “Regardless of the Bondi order, no official other than you may exercise all the powers and duties of the Chief of Police.”

The White House and Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Trump on Monday issued an executive order invoking the Home Rule Act, insisting that the District was overrun by violence. He also deployed the National Guard to the city.

But before Bondi’s order Thursday looking to replace the MPD chief, city officials have largely limited their criticism of the Trump administration, noting that Washington was in a fairly unique situation that gave the federal government broad powers and authorities.

“The feds have an outsize role in D.C., we all know that,” Bowser told POLITICO Wednesday morning. “Right now, having a surge of officers enhances our MPD forces on a temporary basis. We’re going to stay focused on hiring more MPD or, when this temporary surge is over, figuring out more permanent partnerships to tap into when we need a surge of officers.”

But Trump’s Monday press conference went far beyond what his executive order said, with the president saying his administration would “take our capital back.”

“Giving us additional resources is a good thing, but that’s also quite different than federalizing our police force,” D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson said Wednesday in an interview. “Donald Trump is not going to tell our police how to police.”