DC residents' independently-elected AG sues Trump over "brazen usurpation of District's authority over its own govt..
Washington’s top legal official was pushing in court Friday to reverse the order putting the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration in charge of police in the nation’s capital...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s capital sued to block President Donald Trump’s takeover of its police department in court on Friday, hours after his administration escalated its intervention into the city’s law enforcement by naming a federal official as the new emergency head of the department.
Washington’s police department chief said Trump’s move would threaten law and order by upending the command structure. “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,” Police Chief Pamela Smith said in a court filing.
Washington’s police department chief said Trump’s move would threaten law and order by upending the command structure. “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,” Police Chief Pamela Smith said in a court filing.
District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues the police takeover is illegal and threatens to “wreak operational havoc.” Conflicting commands and confusion about who’s in charge are a serious problem for effective policing, Smith said.
https://apnews.com/article/washington-dc-trump-federal-police-takeover-lawsuit-eacd387053520c9e3640c2f91924deeb
In a social media post on Friday, District of Columbia Attorney General Schwalb wrote, "This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it."
The lawsuit, which names Trump, Bondi, Cole, and others as defendants, intensifies a growing battle over Washington between Bondi and Mayor Muriel Bowser, who have emerged as the public faces of the power struggle.
"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," S.C. Mayor Bowser said in a statement on Thursday after Bondi named Cole as the police department head.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/washington-sues-stop-federal-takeover-police-department-2025-08-15/
The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 15 by the District of Columbia's Attorney General Brian Schwalb, says Trump exceeded his authority under the Home Rule Act of 1973 when he invoked a section of the federal law by declaring a local crime emergency to assert control over the Metropolitan Police Department.
Schwalb cited language in the provision that says the president's authority to target the Washington, D.C., police force is limited to "federal purposes." The suit also states the law does not permit a full takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department but only requires Mayor Muriel Bowser to "provide services" of the department to the federal government.
“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 said in a statement.
The lawsuit contends that Attorney General Pam Bondi ‒ who is listed among the defendants in addition to Trump ‒ exceeded her authority with an Aug. 14 executive order naming Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole the new "emergency police commissioner" of the Metropolitan Police Department and suspending three immigration-related D.C. policies.
"Section 740 does not authorize this brazen usurpation of the District’s authority over its own government," the lawsuit says. "That narrow statute permits the President and his delegee to request that the Mayor provide the 'services' of MPD – nothing more. None of the directives in the Bondi Order fall within the compass of that limited grant of authority."
**update**
A federal judge has called a 2 p.m. hearing for Friday in the case against the Trump administration over its federal takeover of Washington, D.C., and could issue an order to halt the operation “within hours,” according to Politico reporter Kyle Cheney.
Reyes was appointed by former President Joe Biden, who Cheney described as, alongside Politico reporter Nicole Markus, being known for her “take-no-prisoners approach from the bench.”
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/trumps-dc-takeover-could-be-halted-within-hours-as-judge-takes-action/ar-AA1KB6bD
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