DC Attorney General Sues Feds To Stop Trump Admin From Cleaning Up Crime

Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has had enough of criminal arrests and clearing out homeless encampments. He has announced that the city is suing the Trump Administration to stop its takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

We are suing to block the federal government takeover of DC 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.

— AG Brian Schwalb (@DCAttorneyGen) August 15, 2025

President Donald Trump announced an executive order Monday invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act. It gives the federal government the authority to control MPD. Trump also declared a public safety emergency D.C., mobilizing the National Guard to address rampant crime in the nation’s capital.

The final straw for the city was Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Thursday order naming DEA Administrator Terry Cole as emergency police commissioner. Cole will assume “all of the powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police,” according to the order.

Schwalb will fight in court for MPD’s Chief Pamela Smith’s position.

“It is my opinion that the Bondi Order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it,” Schwalb said in an August 14 letter to Smith. (Read more from “DC Attorney General Sues Feds To Stop Trump Admin From Cleaning Up Crime” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr