DC Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb speaks during a DC Mayoral and Council swearing-in ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Monday January 2, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Matt McClain | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit Friday challenging President Donald Trump‘s unprecedented takeover of the U.S. capital city’s police force.
“The Administration’s actions are brazenly unlawful,” Schwalb said in a statement after the suit’s filing in U.S. District Court in D.C.
“They go well beyond the bounds of the President’s limited authority and instead seek a hostile takeover of” the Metropolitan Police Department, he said. “They infringe on the District’s right to self-governance and put the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk.”
District Court Judge Ana Reyes ordered parties in the case to appear at a 2 p.m. ET Friday hearing on Schwalb’s request that she issue a temporary restraining order.
Schwalb wants the judge to pause a directive issued Thursday night by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi requiring D.C.’s police chief to cede authority to Drug Enforcement Administrator Terry Cole.
Reyes was appointed to the federal bench in 2023 by President Joe Biden.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday commanding D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to temporarily hand over the MPD to the federal government, while pressuring Congress to allow him to keep that control for longer than a 30-day maximum that would normally be allowed.
His order asserted emergency powers over D.C. by invoking a never-before-used section of the Home Rule Act, a 52-year-old law that established the District’s local government.
“This is an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home,” Schwalb said in his statement Friday.
“Our office will go to court to defend Home Rule, block the unlawful orders, and maintain MPD under District control.”
Bowser said that Bondi’s order giving Cole control of the department was unlawful, and told Police Chief Pamela Smith that she is “not legally obligated to follow it.”
Schwalb’s suit asks a judge to vacate Bondi’s order and block any future attempts to wrest control of the D.C. police force, “or otherwise attempt to direct local law enforcement activities.”
He also seeks a declaration that Trump’s executive order violates the U.S. Constitution’s provision enshrining a separation of governmental powers.
The lawsuit names as defendants Trump, Bondi, the Department of Justice, Cole, the Drug Enforcement Administration itself, along with the U.S. Marshals Service and its director, Gadyaces Serralta.
The DOJ declined to comment on the lawsuit. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump also deployed about 800 National Guard members to D.C. this week as part of his efforts to address what he claims is out-of-control violent crime in the nation’s capital.
He has brushed off official statistics showing that numerous categories of unlawful activity in D.C., including violent crime, have dropped by double-digit percentages in the past year.
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