DC Attorney General Says Police Don't Have to Follow Bondi's Order
'It is my opinion that the Bondi Order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it,' Schwalb told Pamela Smith, the police chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), in a missive released by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump admin backs down on DC police control after striking deal
Washington officials and the Justice Department negotiated a deal at a judge's urging Friday that prevented full federal control of the city's police department over the weekend, but left underlying legal disputes unresolved. Justice Department officials agreed to rewrite a Thursday order from Attorney General Pam Bondi that named Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole as emergency police commissioner, cutting the mayor and existing police chief out of the chain of command. The rewritten order will name Cole as Bondi's 'designee for requesting services' from the police department. 'We think that solves the problem and that's what we're planning to do immediately,' Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes indicated at a hearing Friday she would grant the D.C. attorney general's request for a temporary restraining order if the Justice Department did not follow through on rewriting the order by Friday evening. The hearing came after city officials sued the Trump administration earlier Friday over the directive to take over control of the Metropolitan Police Department. 'In the interim, Mr. Cole is not going to be able to direct police department individuals to do anything,' Reyes, a Biden appointee, said. 'He's going to have to go through the mayor.' Reyes indicated she will hold a hearing next week on other remaining legal questions. "I still do not understand on what basis the president … can say 'You, police department, can't do anything unless I say you can.' That cannot be the reading of the statute,' Reyes said. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was surprised to receive Bondi's order, which came without notice Thursday night. 'What we know is that D.C. residents are worried and concerned and we have a surge of federal officers,' Bowser said. 'Chief Smith's job during this week has been to make sure that if we have and while we have federal officers, that they are being used strategically, and while we aren't controlling them, we do have the ability to influence how they're being deployed.' A 1973 federal law known as the Home Rule Act permits the president, in times of emergency, to seek services from the D.C. police for federal purposes. But city officials say Trump's power to do so is sharply limited and must be done in cooperation with city officials, rather than through a hostile takeover that includes rescinding and rewriting local laws and rules. Reyes agreed, emphasizing the difference between seeking services — which the mayor must provide — and commandeering the entire department. "The statute would have no meaning at all if the president could just say we're taking over your police department,' Reyes said. Arguing for the Trump administration, Roth said the language of the Home Rule Act allows Trump broad discretion to direct MPD — and likely can't be subject to review by the courts. While adjourning for a break in the hearing, Reyes urged the parties to reach a deal that wouldn't require her to rule on the city's request for a restraining order. Those negotiations stretched on for about 90 minutes, as the mayor and other local officials waited in the courtroom. Stanley Woodward, a Bondi advisor and nominee for the No. 3 position at the Justice Department, arrived at the courthouse during the break and was seen participating in the negotiations. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed the lawsuit in federal court Friday after the Justice Department ordered Cole to assume 'all the powers and duties' of MPD police chief Pamela Smith as the 'Emergency Police Commissioner.' Schwalb directed Smith to disregard the orders, issued by Bondi, and said MPD officers 'must continue to follow your orders.' Trump on Monday issued an executive order to invoke his authority under the Home Rule Act, the first president to do so since the act was signed into law. He also deployed the National Guard to the city. City officials said they had held off on taking legal action immediately because the language in Trump's executive order largely did not stray from that of the Home Rule Act. But disrupting the MPD's chain of command by appointing Cole — and therefore undermining Smith — was an overreach not legally permitted, Schwalb argued. 'The Administration's actions are brazenly unlawful,' Schwalb wrote on X Friday. 'They infringe on the District's right to self-governance and put the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk.' In a statement, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the Trump administration has the 'lawful authority to assert control over' MPD. Jacob Wendler contributed to this report. Solve the daily Crossword
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Trump administration partially retreats from a takeover of Washington's police. Here's what to know.
Federal troops are patrolling the National Mall and neighborhoods across Washington while President Donald Trump's administration exerts extraordinary power over law enforcement in the nation's capital. But the administration backed down from an attempt to take over the city's police department by installing its own emergency police commissioner after a federal judge indicated she would rule against it. The partial retreat interrupted one aspect of the most sweeping uses of federal authority over a local government in modern times. How it will play out and whether the federal government will use this experience as a potential blueprint for dealing with other cities remains up in the air. Here's what to know about the situation and what might come next: The Republican president this week announced he's taking control over Washington's police department and activating National Guard troops to reduce crime, an escalation of his aggressive approach to law enforcement. But District of Columbia officials say the action isn't needed, pointing out that violent crime in the district reached historic 30-year lows last year and is down significantly again this year. D.C.'s status as a congressionally established federal district gives Trump a window to assert more control over the district than other cities. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser didn't offer much resistance at first, allowing city workers to clear homeless encampments and work closely with federal immigration agents. But on Friday, the heavily Democratic district asked for an emergency court order blocking Trump officials from putting a federal official in charge of D.C. police. The Trump administration on Friday agreed to leave the Washington, D.C., police chief in control of the department. That came one day after Attorney General Pam Bondi said the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration would take over the police chief's duties, including authority over orders issued to officers. The two sides sparred in court for hours before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes after the city sued to stop the order. The judge indicated the law likely doesn't grant the Trump administration power to fully take over city police, but it probably does give the president more power than the city might like. She pushed the two sides to compromise, promising to issue a court order temporarily blocking the administration from naming a new chief if they couldn't agree. But while Attorney General Pam Bondi agreed to leave the police chief in charge, she directed the District's police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law. The showdown in Washington is the latest attempt by Trump to test the boundaries of his legal authority to carry out his tough-on-crime agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to speed up the mass deportation of people in the United States illegally. About 800 National Guard troops are being activated, with Humvees parked along the Washington Monument and near Union Station. Troops have been spotted standing outside baseball's Nationals Park and neighborhood restaurants. The White House says guard members aren't making arrests but are protecting law enforcement officers who are making arrests and helping deter violent crime. Trump says one of the objectives will be moving homeless people far from the city. Trump has the authority to do this for 30 days and says he might look into extending it. But that would require congressional approval. Whether Republicans in Congress would go along with that is unclear. Some D.C. residents have protested against the increased police presence. For some, the action echoes uncomfortable historical chapters when politicians used language to paint predominantly Black cities with racist narratives to shape public opinion and justify police action. Washington is very different from any other American city, and the rules that govern it give the federal government much more control than it would have anywhere else. Whether Trump is using this as a blueprint for how to approach cities — largely Democratic cities — that he wants to exert more control over remains to be seen.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Trump administration backs off demand to replace DC police chief — but directs cops to follow federal immigration laws
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Friday reversed course and agreed to leave the Washington, D.C., police chief in control of the department, while Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a new memo, directed the District's police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement 'notwithstanding' city law. Bondi's new order Friday came after officials in the nation's capital sued to block President Donald Trump's takeover of the Washington police. On Thursday night. his administration escalated its intervention into the city's law enforcement by naming a federal official as the new emergency head of the department. The attorney general's new order represents a partial retreat for the Trump administration in the face of intense skepticism from a judge over the legality of Bondi's earlier directive that sought to put the police force under the full control of the federal government. But Bondi also signaled the administration would continue to pressure D.C. leaders to help federal authorities aggressively pursue immigrants in the country illegally, despite city laws on the books that limit cooperation between police and immigration authorities. Advertisement 3 DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, left, and DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb leave court on Friday after suing over the Trump administration's attempt to sideline the district's police chief. AP 3 Chief Pamela Smith will remain in place as the administration backed away from the order. Getty Images The District of Columbia's police chief said Trump's earlier move to sideline her would threaten law and order by upending the command structure. '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,' Chief Pamela Smith said in a court filing. Advertisement The two sides sparred in court for hours Friday before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, who is overseeing the lawsuit. She indicated the law likely doesn't grant the Trump administration power to fully take over city police, but it probably does give the president more power than the city might like. 'The way I read the statute, the president can ask, the mayor must provide, but the president can't control,' said Reyes, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Joe Biden. The judge asked the two sides to hammer out a compromise, and promised to issue a court order temporarily blocking the administration from naming a new chief if they couldn't agree. An attorney for the Trump administration, Yaakov Roth, said in court that the move to sideline Smith came after an immigration order that still held back some aid to federal authorities. He argued that the president has broad authority to determine what kind of help police in Washington must provide. Advertisement 3 Protesters mass outside the Metropolitan Police Department in DC on Friday. AP Washington officials were pushing in court to halt U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's order Thursday to put the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, in charge of Washington police. The police takeover is the latest move by Trump to test the limits of his legal authorities to carry out his agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and his plans to speed up the mass deportation of people in the United States illegally.
