D.C. AG Sues to Block Trump’s Takeover of Metropolitan Police Department

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Friday his office is suing the federal government over President Donald Trump’s attempt to take control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Schwalb’s lawsuit comes after Trump earlier this week federalized the police department and after Attorney General Pam Bondi Thursday night attempted to replace the MPD police chief with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) administrator.

Schwalb described both unprecedented moves as “brazenly unlawful.”

“They go well beyond the bounds of the President’s limited authority and instead seek a hostile takeover of MPD,” Schwalb said. “They infringe on the District’s right to self-governance and put the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk.”

Trump attempted to federalize the MPD through the Home Rule Act of 1973, which allows D.C. residents to elect their mayor and council members.

Section 740 of the Home Rule Act allows the president to request the use of the MPD for federal law enforcement purposes “whenever [he] determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for federal purposes.” However, the authority is limited to no more than 30 days.

Before Trump, the section had never been invoked before.

“Even when Section 740 is lawfully invoked, the Home Rule Act keeps operational control of MPD with the Mayor and Chief, and the President must request MPD services through the Mayor,” Schwalb said in announcing his lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Trump’s attempted takeover of MPD “will create immediate, devastating, and irreparable harms for the District.”

“Most critically, the order threatens to upend the command structure of MPD and wreak operational havoc within the department, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike,” the lawsuit reads. “There is no greater risk to public safety in a large, professional law enforcement organization like MPD than to not know who is in command.”

Bondi in a directive Thursday claimed to appoint DEA administrator Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner” of the MPD, a designation that included “all the powers & duties vested in the DC Chief of Police.”

In addition to effectively replacing MPD Chief Pamela Smith with Cole, Bondi in her directive allegedly revoked MPD orders which limited cooperation between district police and federal agents in immigration enforcement.

Schwalb’s office also alleged in the lawsuit that the Trump administration has already taken steps to extend the federal government’s control over the MPD far past the Home Rule Act’s 30-day limit.

After being appointed emergency police commissioner, Cole obtained an MPD badge bearing an expiration date of August 13, 2026, the lawsuit alleges.

In a post on social media, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”

“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,” Bowser said.

Smith, the D.C. police chief, said in a court declaration that she was unaware of Trump’s plan to assume control of the MPD until he announced it at a press conference earlier this week, indicating that the Trump administration did not send Bowser a request for services or support from district police.

“In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive,” Smith said.

D.C.’s lawsuit was assigned to District Judge Ana Reyes, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden.

While also attempting to federalize the MPD, Trump flooded the district with federal police officers and deployed the D.C. National Guard to the capital.

Trump claimed that the National Guard deployment and surge in federal personnel in D.C. is necessary to address violent crime in the district, even as data from D.C. police show that crime is in decline.

Trump’s use of the National Guard within the district could be affected by an upcoming court decision over his use of military troops in Los Angeles earlier this year.

This story has been updated with additional details throughout.