Washington DC is suing the federal government over its takeover of the police force, after US Attorney General Pam Bondi named the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as the district’s “emergency police commissioner”.
The city’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, wrote on X that the US government had illegally declared a takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and was “abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law”.
The lawsuit asks a judge to void Bondi’s order and stop the DEA head from “assuming any position of command within MPD”.
President Donald Trump on Monday declared he would use federal law enforcement to crack down on crime in Washington.
He has since sent in hundreds of National Guard members and other federal agents to clear homeless encampments, run checkpoints and otherwise bolster law enforcement, citing a 1970s law known as the Home Rule Act that allows him to use MPD for “federal purposes” that he “may deem necessary and appropriate.”
Late Thursday, Bondi wrote in an order that DEA Administrator Terry Cole would assume “all of the powers and duties” of local Police Chief Pamela Smith. The chief “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole before issuing any further directives to the MPD”, according to the order.
Almost immediately, Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Schwalb struck back, saying the order was “unlawful” and telling Smith she did not have to follow it.
In the last few days, armoured vehicles have lined up near monuments and other tourist sites, and drivers have been stopped on a popular nightlife corridor. Officials have said that, altogether, 800 troops are expected to be deployed to the district, as well as 500 federal law enforcement agents, such as the FBI.
Bowser, a Democrat, has said there is no emergency and Trump’s “unnecessary and unprecedented” move is an “authoritarian push”.
Speaking on Fox News on Thursday to announce her appointment of Cole, Bondi said federal officers had made 156 arrests and seized 27 firearms this week.
Trump has said crime has worsened in Washington DC, but analysis by BBC Verify suggests a different trend.
Violent offences fell after peaking in 2023, and in 2024, they hit their lowest level in 30 years, according to figures published by DC police.
They are continuing to fall, preliminary data for 2025 suggests.
Violent crime overall has fallen 26% this year compared to the same point in 2024, and robbery is down 28%, according to the police department.
