District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging the Trump administration’s takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department and appointment of Drug Enforcement Administration chief Terry Cole as emergency police commissioner.
The suit follows Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Thursday order directing D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and MPD to give Cole full control of the department, end sanctuary city policies, and obtain his approval for all future directives. Bondi also ordered the rescission of MPD policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, including restrictions on arrests for federal immigration warrants.
Bowser and Schwalb rejected the directive, with Bowser stating no statute transfers the District’s personnel authority to a federal official. Schwalb deemed the order unlawful, saying the Home Rule Act grants the president only limited, temporary authority to request MPD services for federal purposes and does not permit replacing the police chief, altering the chain of command, or setting local enforcement priorities.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, accuses the administration of “brazenly violating” the Home Rule Act and seeks to block the federal government’s control over D.C.’s police force.
