Washington, D.C. has become the epicenter of a high-stakes legal and political showdown after the Trump Administration’s unprecedented move to seize direct control of the city’s police force and install a federal appointee as “Emergency Police Commissioner.” On Friday, August 15, 2025, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and his administration, challenging the legality of the federal takeover and the controversial appointment of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief Terry Cole to head the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
The saga began just days prior, when President Trump, citing what he described as “crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor” in the nation’s capital, declared a “crime emergency” and issued an executive order placing Washington’s police force under federal command. Trump’s characterization of the city’s crime situation was swiftly and forcefully refuted by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Attorney General Schwalb, and other local leaders, who pointed to data showing crime rates in the city actually trending downward. According to Schwalb, “Violent crime in DC reached historic 30-year lows last year, and is down another 26% so far this year.”
On August 14, Attorney General Pam Bondi, acting on Trump’s directive, issued a late-night order appointing Terry Cole—who had only recently been named DEA Administrator—as D.C.’s Emergency Police Commissioner. The directive granted Cole “all of the powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police,” and instructed that all MPD senior officials must receive approval from Cole before issuing any directives of their own. As Bondi’s office stated, “the MPD MUST receive approval from Commissioner Cole before issuing any directive.”
The move sent shockwaves through the city’s leadership. Mayor Bowser immediately took to social media to push back, stating, “Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, D.C. to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President. We have followed the law. 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.” Bowser’s statement was bolstered by a letter from Schwalb, who declared Bondi’s order “unlawful” and told MPD Chief Pamela Smith, “It is my opinion that the Bondi Order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it.”
Schwalb’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of the District, seeks an immediate temporary restraining order to block the federal takeover. The complaint argues that both the Bondi directive and the overall federal intervention “far exceed the constraints of Section 740 [of the Home Rule Act]” and would cause the city “imminent, irreparable harm.” Schwalb asserted, “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 D.C. residents and visitors at risk. The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
District Judge Ana Reyes has scheduled a hearing for the lawsuit on Friday afternoon, setting the stage for a legal battle that could have far-reaching implications for the balance of power between the federal government and the District of Columbia. The Justice Department, for its part, has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
Meanwhile, the city itself is under a heavy federal law enforcement presence. Since the start of the takeover on August 11, more than 1,650 officers and 800 National Guard troops have been deployed across Washington, D.C., according to Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson. “They will remain until law and order has been restored in the district as determined by the president, standing as the gatekeepers of our great nation's capital,” Wilson said. Over 100 people have been arrested in the capital since the operation began, including 29 undocumented migrants on August 13, as reported by a White House official. The crackdown has also seen the arrest and felony charging of a Department of Justice employee, Sean Charles Dunn, who allegedly threw a sandwich at a federal agent. Bondi commented, “Not only is he fired, he has been charged with a felony. This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ.”
The federalization of D.C.’s police force is, by law, authorized for 30 days from its initiation unless Congress grants an extension. President Trump has made clear his intention to seek such an extension, telling reporters, “We think the Democrats will not do anything to stop crime, but we think the Republicans will do it, almost unanimously. We’re going to need a crime bill… It is going to pertain initially to D.C.” According to reporting by Axios, Trump envisions the D.C. intervention as a “roadmap for other cities.”
Central to the controversy is Terry Cole, the newly appointed Emergency Police Commissioner. Cole brings over 30 years of public service experience, including 22 years with the DEA and recent service as Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. In that role, Cole reportedly oversaw a 44% reduction in drug overdose-related deaths in the state. His résumé also includes stints as a Naval Academy officer and New York State police officer, as well as international assignments for the DEA in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and as Acting Regional Director for Mexico, Canada, and Central America. Cole holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the Rochester Institute of Technology and leadership certificates from the University of Virginia and Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business, and is currently pursuing further studies at MIT’s Sloan Executive School for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Despite Cole’s credentials, D.C. officials remain adamant that the federal takeover is both unnecessary and unlawful. Schwalb has repeatedly emphasized that “there is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” and that the federal actions “are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful.” The lawsuit contends that while Section 740 of the Home Rule Act gives the president authority to direct the mayor to provide MPD services for federal purposes in special circumstances, “it does not authorize the President, or his delegee, to remove or replace the Chief of Police, to alter the chain of command within the MPD, or to suspend any MPD directives.”
As the legal battle unfolds, the eyes of the nation are on Washington, D.C., where the outcome could set a lasting precedent for the limits of federal power over the capital and its people. With a court hearing imminent and tensions running high, the struggle for control of the D.C. police force has become a defining moment in the ongoing debate over home rule and local autonomy in the nation’s capital.
