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The D.C. attorney general on Friday sued the Trump administration over its federal takeover of the D.C. police force and its deployment of national guard troops into the city, arguing that the effort is “unlawful” and exceeds Trump’s authority as commander in chief.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, challenges Trump’s executive order to temporarily federalize D.C. under Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act, and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s more recent order Thursday that seeks to install the DEA head as the emergency commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Force — arguing the moves are unprecedented, “brazenly unlawful,” and could “wreak operational havoc” on the Metropolitan Police Department.
In the filing, submitted to federal court in D.C., Schwalb urged the court to block both of the administration’s orders, stating that the Trump administration’s temporary takeover of D.C. police under Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act “does not authorize this brazen usurpation of the District’s authority over its own government.”
“They infringe on the District’s right to self-governance and put the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk.” he said.
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Military Police Soldiers from the National Guard stand guard by Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicles parked next to Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Fox News Digital/Peter Pinedo)
Schwalb also asked the court to grant emergency relief in the form of a temporary restraining order, or TRO, that would block Trump’s order from taking force immediately while the court considers the merits of the case.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden appointee, who in turn ordered both parties to appear in court Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. to weigh the emergency request.
The position is likely to land Reyes, who also presided over a lawsuit involving Trump’s ban on transgender service members, back in Trump’s crosshairs for the second time in less than eight months.
Reyes issued a preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s ban on transgender service members from taking force, prompting Trump allies to label her as an “activist” judge, even after the injunction was overturned by a higher court.
The Justice Department also filed a misconduct complaint against Reyes earlier this year, citing her remarks towards government lawyers. Reyes has something of a reputation for her sharp, fast-paced style of questioning, however, and employed it readily as she grilled lawyers for the plaintiffs as well. The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Sri Srinivasan, has never taken action on the complaint.
Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said in a court filing Friday that Trump’s order is “endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers.”
“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,” she said in the court filing seeking emergency intervention.
The lawsuit comes five days after Trump issued an executive order to temporarily federalize D.C., which he described as an effort to “reestablish law order and public safety” and temporarily federalize the city, which he described Monday as “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world.”
That order included deploying hundreds of D.C. National Guard troops into the city, and temporarily taking federal control of D.C.’s police force.
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White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House on Apr. 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. ( (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))
On Thursday, Bondi expanded on that effort by ordering the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, be installed as the “emergency” commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Force, sidelining current Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith.
“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 Friday.
“The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home,” he added. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
The lawsuit caps a heated week in the nation’s capital, as President Donald Trump and White House officials have assailed what they describe as a “ridiculous” amount of crime in D.C.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told NewsNation in an interview earlier this week that Washington, D.C., “is more violent than Baghdad.” They have alleged recent data — which found a 26% decline in violent crime between 2023 and 2024 — has been “manipulated” or underreported.
Just hours earlier, the Trump-linked America First Legal Foundation (AFL) filed a FOIA request seeking all crime records and data compiled by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, as part of an effort to scrutinize information and crime statistics at issue.
Meanwhile, critics have excoriated Trump’s executive order, which they argue is not based on an uptick in crime or an “emergency” — but rather, serves as justification for the administration to push through its sweeping executive action outside the normal policymaking process.
Norm Eisen, the former White House ethics czar under President Barack Obama, told reporters Thursday that Trump’s order in D.C. is the latest in a “pattern of assaults on the rule of law” in his second term as president.
Trump “has declared a fake emergency” in D.C., Eisen said. “There is no ‘emergency’ upon which this action with MPD or the federal military is predicated” in D.C., Eisen said. “In fact, crime has been dropping in D.C.”
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The E. Barrett Prettyman United States Court House is seen early morning on Dec. 10, 2024, in Washington, DC. (David Ake/Getty Images)
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Trump in March signed an executive order, “Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force,” designed to address issues with a city he has long derided as “filthy,” “horribly run” and “crime-ridden,” among other things.
“We want to have a great, safe capital,” he told reporters earlier this year. “And we’re going to have it. And that includes cleanliness, and it includes other things.”
