Washington (Bloomberg)President Trump’s attempt to seize control of the city’s police force is being blocked immediately by a federal court in Washington, D.C., which is contending that the move is unlawful and could endanger public safety.
Attorney General Brian Schwalb of D.C. filed the complaint Friday in response to heightened tensions between the Justice Department and city officials over Trump’s attempts to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and station hundreds of National Guard troops in the nation’s capital.
The complaint, which was filed in a federal court in Washington, alleges that Trump went beyond the authority that Congress gave him. Additionally, city officials are requesting that a judge prevent the federal government from assuming control of the police force or issuing any directives. There will be a hearing on the issue at 2:00 p.m.
According to Schwalb, the 700,000 Americans who live in D.C. are entitled to their autonomy and dignity, and the administration’s illegal activities are an insult to that. We are battling to prevent it.
The Department of Justice refrained from commenting.
According to White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, the Trump administration has the legal right to take command of the D.C. police force because of the emergency that has developed in our nation’s capital as a result of poor leadership.
Even though recent data, particularly from the Justice Department, shows that crime rates have been declining, Trump used a crime emergency as justification to use rarely used presidential powers to boost the government role in local affairs.
Following Trump’s executive order, roughly 1,750 individuals participated in an overnight operation, including members of the D.C. National Guard, according to a White House official. Of the 33 arrests made as a result of the operation, almost half were individuals who were in the country illegally.
When Schwalb and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser rejected Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request Thursday to deprive the Metropolitan Police chief of her powers and transfer the agency to federal supervision, tensions increased.
Terrence Cole, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, was designated as the emergency police commissioner by Bondi’s order, which granted him all the authority of the city’s police chief. The order reversed many department instructions, required officers to strictly enforce laws prohibiting occupying public spaces or blocking streets, and instructed Washington police chiefs to obtain Cole’s approval before issuing directives.
Bondi blasted the sanctuary policies of D.C. for protecting illegal immigrants from the repercussions of federal law. According to the lawsuit, Bondi’s order would jeopardize the safety of both the public and law enforcement personnel, upend the local police chain of command, and cause disorder among the District’s more than 3,100 officers.
Washington and the federal government have a special relationship. The city may choose its own leaders and run its daily operations thanks to the Home Rule Act of 1973. Nonetheless, the district is still under the jurisdiction of Congress, local judges are chosen by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and many local matters are handled by federal prosecutors.
For a maximum of 30 days during specific circumstances, the legislation permits the president to assume command of the police. Any extension beyond that requires congressional approval. Another difference from states is that the president is in charge of the city’s National Guard.
The lawsuit asserts Trump can only ask the mayor for help in certain situations; he cannot take over command and control of the police force himself. Additionally, the city contends that citing an increase in crime as grounds for federal control is overly general and contradicts Congress’s resolution to defer daily government to elected officials at the local level.
Supporting D.C. statehood, Mayor Bowser has resisted federal attempts to assume control of local government. Although she stressed that no law transfers the District’s employment authority to a federal official, she has attempted to work with the White House during Trump’s administration.
In a letter to D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith on August 14, Schwalb described Trump’s actions as unprecedented, unwarranted, and illegal, and he said that Bondi’s order is illegal and that you are not legally required to implement it.
