WASHINGTON — Washington, D.C.’s police chief is the force’s top official once again, after the Trump administration rescinded an order that stripped her of power less than a day after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued it.
As part of an agreement struck Friday between attorneys from the Department of Justice and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s office, Drug Enforcement Administration Chief Terry Cole will now be considered Bondi’s “designee,” instead of the emergency police chief, a position Bondi sought in her original order that claimed federal control of the department.
The agreement allows Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith to maintain control of the day-to-day operations of her department, while taking orders from Mayor Muriel Bowser.
In a new order Bondi issued Friday evening, the Department of Justice directed Bowser to order the police department to assist in immigration enforcement operations and to comply with database inquiries and requests for information from any federal law enforcement entity.
This effectively strips Washington, D.C., of its “sanctuary city” status.
But in a news conference after Friday’s hearing in federal court, Schwalb, who had filed a lawsuit challenging the administration’s police takeover, took a victory lap.
“The key for today is to know that our effort to avoid a hostile takeover of our police force is not going to happen,” he told reporters. “Chief Smith remains in control of the police department under the supervision of our mayor.”
Schwalb’s office argued in its lawsuit, which also challenges President Donald Trump’s order from Monday, that the initial orders exceed the limits on requesting services from D.C., which it says can be done on a temporary basis only under emergency circumstances.
The office sought a temporary restraining order to enjoin the Trump administration from taking over the police department, saying that D.C. would “suffer devastating and irreparable harms” if the Trump administration’s efforts succeeded.
“The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home,” Schwalb said in a statement. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
The suit said that implementing Bondi’s order would “upend the entire command structure of MPD and sow chaos among the more than 3,100 officers serving the District, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike.”
Smith said in a sworn declaration in support of Schwalb’s suit that she had “never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive.”
“If effectuated, the Bondi Order would upend the command structure of MPD, endangering the safety of the public and law enforcement officers alike,” Smith said.
Schwalb’s office said Trump only had authority to request services for “federal purposes,” and that Congress didn’t grant the authority to replace D.C.’s police chief.
Bowser, who had been complying with Trump’s earlier directive, said in a post on social media that she agreed the initial Bondi order had gone too far.
“Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President. We have followed the law,” Bowser wrote on X. “In reference to the U.S. Attorney General’s order, there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official,” she added.
In his order on Monday, Trump cited several high-profile violent acts to justify his decision to deploy National Guard troops into the capital and take control of the D.C. police.
Bowser pushed back on Trump’s claims of out-of-control crime in Washington, saying statistics show it’s substantially dropped. According to federal data released in January, violent crime in the district for 2024 was at its lowest level in more than three decades, and down 35% from the previous year.
The mayor characterized Trump’s moves as “unprecedented” and an “authoritarian push” earlier this week, but conceded he had the authority to issue the order.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Trump’s order the “first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets of Washington, DC.”
Under the Home Rule Act, Trump has the power to federalize the D.C. police for only 30 days unless Congress approves an extension. He said on Wednesday that he plans to ask Congress for a long-term extension — but that would need support from some Democrats to pass.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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