The Trump administration has agreed to scale back its attempt to seize direct control of Washington, D.C.’s police department, following tense courtroom negotiations that exposed a deep conflict over the limits of presidential power.
The clash came just days after President Trump invoked Section 740 of the 1973 Home Rule Act to declare a public safety emergency in the nation’s capital and authorize federal authorities to take control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
In a sweeping move, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an order naming Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner,” effectively cutting Mayor Muriel Bowser and MPD Chief Pamela Smith out of the chain of command.
REPORTER: “Do you know what the chain of command is now?”
D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith: “What does that mean?”
Smith previously served as the Police Department’s “Chief Equity Officer”. pic.twitter.com/CdggV2lnP9
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 12, 2025
District leaders responded with a lawsuit on Friday, calling the directive unconstitutional. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb declared the order a “hostile takeover” and said the administration’s actions “are brazenly unlawful.”
“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 DC residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb said in a statement. “The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
In a packed federal courtroom, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes signaled she was prepared to grant the city’s request for a temporary restraining order unless Justice Department officials reworked Bondi’s directive.
“In the interim, Mr. Cole is not going to be able to direct police department individuals to do anything,” Reyes said. “He’s going to have to go through the mayor.”
Reyes underscored that while the Home Rule Act does permit the president to request MPD services during emergencies, it does not give the executive authority to “commandeer” the department outright.
“The statute would have no meaning at all if the president could just say we’re taking over your police department,” she warned.
Even with the change, the Trump administration made clear it is not conceding defeat.
“The Trump administration is not backing down,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement, adding that the rewritten order still requires D.C. officials “to comply fully and completely with federal immigration law and authorities.”
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Bowser admitted she was blindsided by the Thursday night order.
“What we know is that D.C. residents are worried and concerned and we have a surge of federal officers,” she said. “Chief Smith’s job during this week has been to make sure that if we have and while we have federal officers, that they are being used strategically, and while we aren’t controlling them, we do have the ability to influence how they’re being deployed.”
Trump himself, in announcing the move earlier in the week, defended the takeover as necessary to restore public safety.
“We’re formally declaring a public safety emergency. This is an emergency. This is a tragic emergency, and it’s embarrassing,” Trump said Monday. “This city will no longer be a sanctuary for illegal alien criminals. We will have full, seamless, integrated cooperation at all levels of law enforcement, and we’ll deploy officers across the district with an overwhelming presence.”
Bondi argued that Smith’s recent orders did not go far enough, particularly in directing MPD to work with federal immigration authorities. Her revised directive still overrides several D.C. policies viewed by the administration as obstructing federal enforcement.
The post Trump Admin Reworks D.C. Police Takeover Order After Federal Court Clash appeared first on Conservative Brief.
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Author: Kyle Becker
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