Washington Attorney General sues Trumpʼs Administration for attempting to seize power over city police

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb has filed a lawsuit against the Donald Trump administration over the US presidentʼs decision to take Washington police under federal control. The attorney general believes it is illegal and wants to overturn it in court.

This is reported by Politico and the Washington Post.

Schwalb believes that the administration is abusing its temporary limited powers provided for by law.

The lawsuit says the attempted takeover could “damage” the Metropolitan Police Department by creating confusion about who has operational control. City lawyers argue that the pressure from President Donald Trump and the US Attorney General Pam Bondi violates the law in multiple ways — exceeding the president’s legal authority to intervene in city affairs and overturning policies that local officials have adopted.

“This is the most serious threat to self-government that the District of Columbia has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” Schwalb wrote.

In the lawsuit, he asked a judge to declare the actions of Trump and the US Attorney General Pam Bondi unconstitutional. Schwalb urged the judge to immediately block Bondiʼs order and keep control of the police force in the hands of Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Pamela Smith, who said the administrationʼs actions "endanger the safety of the public and law enforcement".

Politico writes that due to the urgency of the filing, the case could be heard as early as Friday, August 15. The case was assigned to the US District Judge Ana Reyes, who was appointed by former US President Joe Biden. Reyes previously blocked Trumpʼs ban on transgender military service until the District of Columbia Court of Appeals stayed her decision.

What preceded

President Donald Trump declared on August 11 that he was transferring Washington police to federal control and deploying 800 National Guard troops to the city, all because of “out of control” crime, despite statistics showing that violent crime rates will hit a 30-year low in 2024.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on August 14 ordered Terry Cole, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, to temporarily lead the city’s police force as “emergency commissioner”. The order took effect immediately and overturned some previous police decisions, including an order from Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith that allowed limited cooperation with immigration authorities.

Mayor Muriel Bowser and County Attorney General Brian Schwalb said Bondi cannot change the normal police leadership system and require officers to obey Cole.

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