District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging the Trump administration’s takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), calling it the gravest threat to D.C.’s Home Rule in history.
The suit targets both President Donald Trump’s Monday order asserting federal control over the MPD and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Thursday directive appointing Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner.” Bondi’s order grants Cole full authority over the department, superseding Police Chief Pamela Smith.
Schwalb’s office argued the moves exceed the president’s limited authority under the Home Rule Act, which allows the federal government to request D.C. services only on a temporary basis during emergencies and for “federal purposes.”
“By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb, a Democrat, said in a statement. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
Concerns Over Command Disruption
The lawsuit warns that Bondi’s order would “upend the entire command structure of MPD and sow chaos among the more than 3,100 officers serving the District.”
In a sworn declaration supporting the lawsuit, Chief Smith called the directive “dangerous” and a major risk to public safety.
“Imposing a new command structure ‘effective immediately’ will wreak operational havoc within MPD and create tremendous risk for the public,” Smith wrote. “There is no greater risk to public safety in a paramilitary organization than to not know who is in command.”
Schwalb told Smith in a letter Thursday night that the Bondi order was “unlawful” and that she was not legally obligated to follow it.
Mayor Bowser Pushes Back
Mayor Muriel Bowser, who had complied with Trump’s initial order, publicly rejected Bondi’s expanded directive.
“Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President. We have followed the law,” Bowser wrote on X. “In reference to the U.S. Attorney General’s order, there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
Trump’s Justification and Crime Data Dispute
Trump has cited several high-profile violent incidents to justify deploying National Guard troops and taking over MPD. Bowser countered that violent crime in the District of Columbia is at its lowest level in more than 30 years, down 35% from 2023, according to federal data released in January.
The mayor has characterized Trump’s actions as “unprecedented” and an “authoritarian push,” but acknowledged the president has authority to federalize the D.C. police for up to 30 days without congressional approval.
The White House defended the move, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling it “the first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets of Washington, D.C.”
Trump has said he will seek congressional approval for a long-term extension of federal control, a step that would require support from some Democrats to pass.
