Washington DC sues federal government over police takeover

DC Mayor Bowser has called Bondi's order unlawful

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."

The US Justice Department told the BBC it had no comment on the lawsuit.

A hearing before Judge Ana Reyes, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, has been set for 14:00 EST (19:00 BST).

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.

"If effectuated, the Bondi Order would upend the command structure of MPD, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike," Smith wrote in a declaration filed in the suit on Friday.

"In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive."

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. Helicopters from the police force for the national park system have swept through the sky. Altogether, officials expect 800 troops 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".

DEA agents patrol after a Nationals baseball game

Trump is reportedly the first president to federalise the MPD, but the government has sought to intervene in DC policing before.

In 1989, then President George HW Bush provided around 200 National Guard troops to support local police during a period of chronically high crime involving crack cocaine, with the understanding they would not patrol the streets.

More recently, the National Guard was sent to protect the capitol after the 6 January 2021 attack and, before that, in response to the 2020 protests following the killing of George Floyd.

Speaking on Fox News Channel's Hannity 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.

Since taking office, Trump has also deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles in an effort to quell protests over deportation raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.