President Trump on Monday announced he was putting the Washington, D.C., police department under federal control and deploying the National Guard in what he portrayed as a crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.
“This is liberation day in D.C. and we’re going to take our capital back,” said Trump, who has long floated plans to overhaul the District that’s governed by a council of elected representatives and a mayor.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” the president told a packed White House press briefing room.
With D.C. police now under federal control, here’s what to expect next.
Bondi, DEA chief to run point
Trump’s declaration of taking over the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) delegates authority of the city’s police force to Trump’s-appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi.
A few hours after Trump’s announcement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she would follow the executive order and had reached out to Bondi to meet.
Trump also announced he was designating Terry Cole as MPD’s interim federal commissioner. Cole was confirmed just under three weeks ago to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Trump at his press conference lauded Cole as the “most highly recommended person” and “one of the top in the country.”
“He better be. Terry, if not, I’m going to get rid of you so fast,” Trump joked.
MPD Chief Pamela Smith said she was in contact with federal partners, telling D.C. residents the announcement meant residents should expect an “enhanced presence” in the city.
One expert thinks it could have longlasting efforts on the department – and not in a good way.
Tahir Duckett, executive director of the Center for Innovations in Community Safety and an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law, said some in the D.C. police force may get frustrated by reassignments and being overseen by a federal force that does very different work from community policing.
It could also shake DC residents and further hamper crime-fighting.
“It’s going to break down community trust, which any police officer will tell you, that the only way that you actually solve murders [or] armed robberies, is when you have really deep trust,” Duckett said.
Congress to intervene
Trump is taking over MPD by invoking a provision of the D.C. Home Rule Act, a law Congress passed in the 1970s that established a city council and gave it and the mayor control over local affairs.
The provision, Section 740, provides Trump – and any U.S. president – some temporary ability to unilaterally seize control of MPD in emergency situations, but it also provides key levers for congressional intervention.
Trump already met the initial requirement to provide written notification to Congress of the takeover within 48 hours. House Oversight Committee Republicans confirmed receipt on Monday.
With the notifications delivered, Trump can unilaterally take over the police force for up to 30 days. Congress must pass a joint resolution to extend it further, which could leave Democrats in the position of voting against it, thus providing the GOP with a prime opportunity to portray the opposing party as “soft on crime.”
“Congress will work with President Trump to restore law and order in Washington, D.C.,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) wrote on X.
Lawmakers could also vote at any time to immediately take away Trump’s control of MPD, and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said he would introduce such a measure. But Republicans’ majorities in both chambers make any rebuke unlikely.
Congress is also on recess until after Labor Day.
Trump has additionally previously floated a federal takeover of the city more broadly, but that would require congressional approval.
800 National Guard troops to patrol DC
Beyond the MPD takeover, Trump said on Monday that he’s deploying 800 D.C. National Guard troops as the push to rid the capital of crime moves forward “very rapidly.”
Last week, the president had ordered federal law enforcement officials to patrol Washington streets for a week, an effort led by the U.S. Park Police with officers and agents from the FBI, DEA, ICE and other groups.
“The Metropolitan Police Department and the federal authorities will be supported in the effort, a really big effort, [by] the 800 DC National Guardsmen that we’ll put on and much more if necessary,” Trump said. “If necessary, we’re going to move service members directly to joining the guardsmen. And that’ll take place very rapidly.”
The announcement drew sharp pushback from Democrats, arguing the capital’s crime rates don’t align with Trump’s drastic move. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) argued there’s “no basis” for the takeover and suggested Trump “get lost.”
Trump controversially deployed more than 2,000 members of the National Guard in June to Los Angeles to crack down on protests over the administration’s immigration policies, a move that bypassed the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
“The president operates like he is the governor of D.C., and the governor of a state can deploy the National Guard in times of emergency. Here, I think there’s an argument that there’s no particular urgency,” said Paul Schiff Berman, a former dean of the George Washington University Law School.
“Even if there is an emergency with regard to some law enforcement priorities, it’s not at all clear that the President really has the authority to unilaterally suspend the mayor’s other governmental responsibilities.”
Trump says he’ll appoint judges, end no-cash bail
Citing crime concerns, the president also shared plans to appoint new D.C. judges and end no-cash bail as part of his crackdown.
“We’re going to be appointing some judges. You know, we have some open spots, and we’re going to take people — because the judges are letting killers out,” Trump said at Monday’s press conference.
The president has the power to nominate D.C.’s local judges, and they must clear Senate confirmation. Trump added that Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and others had already recommended several candidates.
“We’ve got 10 open spots, and we can probably create some more. We need them,” Trump said.
D.C.’s local trial court had 13 vacancies as of July 18, and its appeals court had two openings, according to the city’s Judicial Nomination Commission.
Trump also blasted no-cash bail systems in cities such as D.C., New York and Chicago. Illinois was the first state to eliminate cash bail as a condition of pretrial release back in 2023, while D.C. largely removed cash bail back in the 1990s.
“This dire public safety crisis stems directly from the abject failures of the city’s local leadership. The radical left City Council adopted no cash bail,” Trump said.
“We’re going to change no cash bail. We’re going to change the statute and get rid of some of the other things, and we’ll count on the Republicans in Congress and Senate to vote. We have the majority, so we’ll vote.”
DC attorney general considering legal options
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) is leaving the door open to taking legal action against the president.
“We are considering all of our options and will do what’s necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents,” Schwalb said in a statement.
Schwalb rebuked Trump’s assertion that crime is out of control in D.C., pointing to recent data showing violent crime is down 26 percent so far in 2025.
“The Administration’s actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful. There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” Schwalb said.
But it remains unclear whether courts would have the power to review Trump’s emergency declaration taking over MPD or otherwise intervene.
And for the D.C. National Guard, Trump has greater control compared to state units across the country.
The force in D.C. is always under the command of the president, not the mayor. That’s in contrast to Trump’s bid to federalize the California National Guard, which remains under a legal challenge from Newsom.
“One of the most important bulwarks against authoritarian rule in the United States is the fact that we have a Federalist system with shared sovereignty, so that the president or the federal government generally can’t simply take over states,” said Berman.
“The problem is that D.C. is not a state. And so it gives the President more leeway. And that’s really dangerous.”
