District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb has called President Donald Trump’s recent seizure of control over Washington’s police department “the gravest threat to Home Rule the District has ever faced,” vowing to block the move in court.
On Friday, the nation’s capital filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the takeover, hours after the Trump administration escalated its policing crackdown by installing a federal official as “emergency head” of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) — with full authority equivalent to the police chief.
Schwalb’s suit argues the president has overstepped his statutory powers and asks the court to affirm that control of the MPD remains with the city. The attorney general also sought an emergency restraining order to halt federal directives.
“This administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home,” Schwalb said.
The federal intervention was announced late Thursday by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who named Drug Enforcement Administration chief Terry Cole to assume all duties of the MPD’s chief of police. Bondi said that no orders may be issued by the MPD without Cole’s approval — raising immediate questions about the authority of current Police Chief Pamela Smith, who reports to Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Bowser quickly rejected the move, writing on social media that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
The dispute intensified after Bondi rescinded Smith’s recent directive that limited information-sharing with immigration authorities in cases where individuals were not in custody. Bondi also overturned MPD policies restricting immigration-status inquiries and prohibiting arrests based solely on federal immigration warrants. All new MPD directives, she said, would require Cole’s approval.
Critics view the move as one of the most sweeping assertions of federal power over a local government in modern U.S. history. Trump has justified it as part of a broader “tough on crime” agenda, citing spikes in violent crime and homelessness. Yet Washington’s homicide rate remains below that of several other major cities, and the capital is not experiencing the public safety collapse the administration describes.
Meanwhile, the physical presence of federal forces has become increasingly visible. National Guard troops have been deployed to secure monuments, patrol nightlife districts, and assist with traffic control and crowd management. Federal law enforcement officers — including DEA agents, Secret Service, and Homeland Security police — have been stationed at high-profile sites such as Union Station, Nationals Park, and The Wharf.
Approximately 800 National Guard members have been activated for 30 days, during which the president may operate federal law enforcement without congressional approval. Trump has indicated he will review the situation as the deadline approaches.
While the District has seen Guard deployments during major events such as the Fourth of July, the scale and scope of this operation have unsettled many residents, some of whom view it as an unprecedented intrusion into local governance.
