Washington officials have launched a legal battle against the Trump administration after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an order attempting to seize control of the Metropolitan Police Department, in what city leaders call the gravest threat to home rule since the District gained limited self-governance in the 1970s.
On Friday, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a federal lawsuit demanding that a judge immediately rescind the takeover and prevent the administration from enforcing what the city contends is an unlawful directive. “By illegally declaring a takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law,” Schwalb wrote in a post on X. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
The suit accuses the administration of violating the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, the 1973 law granting the city limited self-governance while reserving certain federal powers. Schwalb emphasized that the president’s authority to commandeer the MPD is both narrow and temporary, capped at 48 hours unless Congress is notified and at 30 days unless extended by joint resolution. “For the president to obtain MPD’s services for longer than 30 days—even in the face of an ongoing emergency—Congress must pass a joint resolution permitting the extension,” Schwalb argued in court filings.
Bondi’s order directed Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole to assume “all the powers and duties” of the city’s police chief as the new “Emergency Police Commissioner,” “effective immediately.” The directive also rescinded several local police policies, including an order from Chief Pamela Smith limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
City officials said the order created chaos within the department, undermining the chain of command and jeopardizing public safety. “Imposing a new command structure ‘effective immediately’ will wreak operational havoc within MPD,” Schwalb wrote. “The new command structure will create confusion for MPD personnel, who are required under district law to respect and obey the chief of police as the head and chief of the police force.”
Chief Smith issued her own warning in a sworn declaration to the court, stressing that the takeover poses a direct danger to both residents and officers. “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,” she stated.
The lawsuit underscores that no president in history has attempted to directly seize control of Washington’s police force. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Schwalb directed MPD officers to continue following the chain of command under Chief Smith rather than reporting to Cole. “Therefore, members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor,” Schwalb wrote in a letter circulated by Bowser.
The administration defended its actions as lawful and necessary. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Democrats’ opposition was “par for the course” and insisted that “The Trump Administration has the lawful authority to assert control over the D.C. Police, which is necessary due to the emergency that has arisen in our Nation’s Capital as a result of failed leadership.”
President Trump invoked the Home Rule Act earlier in the week through executive order, deploying the National Guard and claiming the District was “overrun by violence.” At a Monday press conference, Trump declared his administration would “take our capital back.”
But city leaders disputed both his rationale and the legality of his actions. Schwalb pointed out that Trump’s justification was based on misleading claims about crime. “The president did not identify any new or unusual exigency that justified the invocation of [emergency powers],” Schwalb alleged. “Instead, he claimed that violent crime in the district is ‘increasing,’ when, in fact, it has fallen 26% since 2024.”
Council Chair Phil Mendelson criticized the attempt to federalize local policing. “Donald Trump is not going to tell our police how to police,” he said in an interview.
The dispute quickly spread to Capitol Hill, where lawmakers introduced competing legislation. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) proposed a resolution granting Trump authority to maintain federal control of MPD “for as long as necessary to restore law and order.” Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers introduced a joint resolution to terminate the administration’s control, but with Republicans holding both chambers, the effort is expected to stall.
Civil society groups warned that the attempted seizure represents a dangerous escalation in Trump’s broader effort to federalize urban policing. Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert described the move as “a necessary step for standing up to this administration’s wild and unprecedented abuse of power.” She added, “Declaring a fake emergency and placing our capital city under what looks like a military occupation has furthered the dystopian reality of this moment.”
Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund echoed that warning, saying his group “stands shoulder-to-shoulder” with D.C.’s attorney general. “Appointing the DEA head as ‘emergency police commissioner’ with full command over MPD is brazen overreach, unprecedented, and directly counter to the principles of democratic accountability and local autonomy enshrined in law,” Eisen said.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee with a history of rulings against Trump-era directives, including a block on the transgender military ban. How quickly Reyes will act on the emergency request remains unclear, but the filing sets up a historic legal showdown over home rule, federal authority, and the future of policing in the nation’s capital.
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