President Donald Trump’s 30-day federal oversight of Washington D.C.’s police department concludes Wednesday night, though the federal intervention in the city is not entirely ending.
A month prior, Trump had declared a state of emergency in the nation’s capital due to crime, utilizing a section of the law to assume command of the local police force. This legislation, while granting D.C. residents considerable self-governance, preserves Congress’s constitutional authority over the city, and only permitted Trump to federalize the D.C. police for a maximum of 30 days. Beyond this period, Congress would be required to prolong the White House’s emergency authority; however, House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that lawmakers currently have no intentions of doing so.
“No one is appealing to Congress at this time,” Johnson remarked during a Tuesday press conference, referencing D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s continued collaboration and what he described as her “standing invitation” for the National Guard.
Last week, Bowser issued an order calling for continuous cooperation between local and federal law enforcement agencies “to the fullest extent permissible by law within the District.” This directive has no specified expiration date.
The National Guard was not among the agencies designated for coordination in Bowser’s order. The Mayor has previously stated her belief that “troops should not be policing American cities” and that the deployment of National Guard forces in D.C., particularly those from other states, “has not proven effective, in my assessment, nor has it been efficient or aligned with its intended purpose.”
“If an agreement exists, which I understand to be between the White House and the local leadership, then I am uncertain if Congress needs to take any action,” Johnson commented. “Therefore, we will observe how the situation develops.”
During Trump’s period of control, he mandated that the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) be placed under Attorney General Pam Bondi’s supervision. Bondi subsequently attempted to appoint the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as D.C.’s “emergency police commissioner”; however, the city resisted this action as unlawful, and Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) chief Pamela Smith has retained her position. The conclusion of the 30-day period is poised to fully terminate Trump’s authority regarding the department, as well as Bondi’s oversight.
Despite Congress’s inaction on extending the President’s emergency declaration, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was scheduled to convene on Wednesday to consider several bills that would enhance federal authority over D.C. Among the proposed legislation is a bill designed to reinforce a Trump directive issued earlier this year, which includes the establishment of a “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Commission tasked with coordinating federal agencies and D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, as well as formulating shared priorities to ensure the complete enforcement of Federal and local laws within the District,” according to a press statement from the Oversight Committee.
Further proposals involve reducing the age at which juveniles can be prosecuted as adults from 16 to 14, and granting the president the power to appoint the city’s attorney general.
Even as Trump’s command over the MPD concludes, the Army has directed the National Guard—which Trump deployed to the capital’s streets upon declaring the state of emergency—to maintain its presence in D.C. until the end of November.
“Our assignment is not yet finished,” stated Brig. Gen. Leland D. Blanchard II, who supervises the Guard in D.C., in a social media update. “I have chosen to prolong the deployment as we persist in our efforts to guarantee the safety of everyone navigating these city streets.”
This directive exclusively pertains to the D.C. National Guard. It does not extend to Guard members from other states who have also been stationed in the city; their subsequent actions will be decided by their respective state governors.
Last week, D.C. initiated legal action against the Administration concerning its deployment of over 2,000 federal troops within the city, characterizing their presence as a “military occupation.”
“Utilizing the National Guard for law enforcement purposes is not merely superfluous and unwelcomed, but it also poses risks and detriment to the District and its inhabitants,” asserted D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb.
A federal judge had previously determined that Trump’s deployment of the Guard in Los Angeles, in response to anti-immigration demonstrations, was unlawful due to the troops’ involvement in civil law-enforcement duties.
“The infractions were not isolated incidents committed by individual servicemembers but stemmed from systematic and deliberate directives to troops to enforce domestic law,” declared Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, adding that the deployment of these troops indicated an endeavor to establish a “national police force.”
Following the deployment of federal forces in Los Angeles and D.C. this summer, Trump has issued warnings to several other cities regarding potential crackdowns on crime and immigration. Last month, Trump suggested Chicago was next, leading the city to prepare for the arrival of federal troops in recent weeks. The Department of Homeland Security commenced an immigration enforcement initiative in Chicago on Monday, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, and launched a similar operation in Massachusetts over the weekend. Nevertheless, the comprehensive crackdown on crime in Chicago that Trump had indicated has not yet materialized.
Crime rates in Los Angeles and D.C., mirroring trends in numerous other American cities, increased during the COVID-19 pandemic but have experienced a notable decrease over the past couple of years.
