Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) is suing President Donald Trump and his top law enforcement officials over the federal takeover of the capital’s police force, arguing that current legislation “does not permit the President to seize control” of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Schwalb also named U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terrance Cole, U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces S. Serralta, and their respective agencies in the Friday lawsuit, claiming that the Trump administration has gone past the limits outlined in Washington, DC’s Home Rule Act.
Section 740 of the act states that the president can require the mayor to provide MPD services for “federal purposes,” which Schwalb noted has not been done in the 52 years since the enactment of Home Rule.
The district’s AG went on to state that Section 740 “does not permit the President to seize control of MPD. Nor does it authorize the President to direct MPD in the policing of local crime. Congress left that responsibility to local leaders.”
However, Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) has already met with Bondi, who said their conversation was “productive” and made it clear that the federal government will be working with the city government and police “to make Washington, D.C. safe again.”
In fact, Bowser’s legal team reportedly said, “Do not believe they have grounds to challenge President Trump’s declaration of a DC crime emergency,” and are “surrendering to a federal takeover of its police department,” according to MSNBC:
Trump made the highly-anticipated “liberation day” announcement on Monday, declaring that he had invoked Section 740 to place MPD under direct federal control and activated the National Guard to crack down on crime.
Bondi tapped Cole to be the district’s “emergency police commissioner,” saying Thursday that the DEA administrator will assume “powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police.”
She added that MPD “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any orders.
Schwalb’s lawsuit seeks to cancel Cole’s installment as the emergency police commissioner, and to keep MPD under the control of Bowser and MPD Chief Pamela Smith.
“There is no greater risk to public safety in a large, professional police force like MPD than to not know who is in command,” the lawsuit argued.
The 33-page complaint did not push back against Trump’s other crime-fighting efforts, including the mobilization of 800 National Guard troops around the city.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
