Trump also deployed the National Guard to Washington.
WASHINGTON—The District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Aug. 15 over its takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.
“We are suing to block the federal government takeover of D.C. police. 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,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb posted on X.
We are suing to block the federal government takeover of DC police.
— AG Brian Schwalb (@DCAttorneyGen) August 15, 2025
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.
“The federal government’s power over D.C. is not absolute, and it should not be exercised as such,” he said.
The federal government's power over DC is not absolute, and it should not be exercised as such.
— AG Brian Schwalb (@DCAttorneyGen) August 15, 2025
Section 740 of the Home Rule Act permits the President to request MPD's services.
But it can only be done temporarily, for special emergencies, and solely for federal purposes.
The Department of Justice declined to comment.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson defended the administration’s takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.
“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,” she told The Epoch Times. “The Democrats’ efforts to stifle this tremendous progress are par for the course for the Defund the Police, Criminals-First Democrat Party.”
President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 11 that the federal government would take over the capital city’s police department. Terry Cole, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, was named the emergency commissioner of the police department.
This is part of the Trump administration’s effort to combat crime and homelessness in the city.
Trump also deployed the National Guard to Washington.
The National Guard does not have the authority to arrest people, though they can detain them until law enforcement arrives.
Trump invoked Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which allows the president to control the city’s police department for up to 30 days. Congress must approve any extension.
The president has instructed federal law enforcement to patrol the nation’s capital every day for 24 hours.
Trump said an extension will be needed.
“We’re going to be asking for extensions on that—long-term extensions,” he said on Aug. 13. “You can’t have 30 days.”
“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,“ Trump said at a press conference. ”We’re taking it back under the authorities vested in me as the president of the United States.”
