D.C. Attorney General Sues White House Over ‘Hostile’ Police Takeover
(Samuel Corum/Sipa via AP Images)
Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing President Donald Trump after the administration deployed National Guard troops as part of a crime crackdown.
The lawsuit rejects Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Thursday order that would place Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrence Cole in charge as emergency police commissioner. Schwalb called the order “unlawful,” arguing the order violates D.C.’s Home Rule Act, which allows the president to declare an emergency.
Bondi’s order also includes a suspension of D.C.’s policies that limit cooperation with ICE authorities.
“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 D.C. residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb said. “The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
Bondi’s order received swift pushback from Schwalb and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D). Bowser took to social media on Thursday, posting a letter from her attorney general and arguing officials have followed the law.
“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,” she wrote. “We have followed the law. In reference to the U.S. Attorney General’s order, there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
“We are suing to block the federal government takeover of DC police,” Schwalb posted to X on Friday. “By illegally declaring a takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
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