A new lawsuit has been filed challenging President Donald Trump’s federal oversight of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, a move he initiated amid rising violent crime and growing concerns over public safety in the District. While critics claim federal involvement is an overreach, many Americans see it as a necessary response to years of failed local leadership and soft-on-crime policies that have turned D.C. into a cautionary tale of lawlessness.
The nation's capital is pushing back against President Trump’s assertive move to place the city’s police force under federal control. On Friday, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit challenging what he called a clear overreach of executive authority, after the Trump administration appointed a federal official to act as the emergency head of the Metropolitan Police Department, effectively stripping local officials of command. The lawsuit argues that Trump’s action exceeds the legal bounds of federal power and requests an emergency court order to block the takeover and reaffirm the District’s authority over its own police force.
Schwalb called the Trump administration’s takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department illegal, asserting that D.C. police should only follow orders from officials appointed by the Mayor. In a memo, he instructed the police chief to ignore directives from Trump’s newly appointed federal official, setting up a direct legal battle. Schwalb warned that the move is a serious threat to D.C.’s self-governance — calling it the most severe challenge to Home Rule in the city's history — and vowed to fight it in court.
This development follows Attorney General Pam Bondi’s announcement that DEA Administrator Terry Cole will take over the responsibilities and authority typically held by the Chief of Police in Washington, D.C. According to Bondi, the Metropolitan Police Department must now seek approval from Commissioner Cole before taking any action. The status of current Police Chief Pamela Smith, who serves under Mayor Muriel Bowser, remains uncertain. Mayor Bowser strongly objected to the move, stating that no existing law grants a federal official control over the District’s personnel decisions.
Bondi overruled a directive from Smith that instructed officers to share information with immigration authorities only in limited circumstances, such as when individuals were not in custody. The Justice Department stated that Bondi opposed the move, arguing it upheld "sanctuary" practices that restrict local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Bondi announced she was rescinding that policy, along with other rules that barred officers from asking about immigration status or making arrests based solely on federal immigration warrants. Going forward, Bondi said, Cole must approve all MPD directives.
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