Trump police takeover will create ‘immediate, devastating, and irreparable harm’ for DC, federal lawsuit says
According to the federal lawsuit filed by the DC government today, the Trump administration has engaged in “a brazen usurpation of the District’s authority over its own government”.
The suit says that the president’s move to federalise the DC police, and attorney general Pam Bondi’s order to install DEA administrator Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner”, both “exceed the narrow delegation that Congress granted the President in Section 740”.
A reminder, earlier this week the president invoked Section 740 of the DC Home Rule Act, which grants him a 30-day period to control the district’s local law enforcement if he declares a safety emergency. To get an extension, the president would need Congress’s approval.
The president has said that violent crime in DC – which the justice department says experienced a 30-year low in 2024 – is “the worst it’s ever been”.
The lawsuit also states that Section 740 only requires that the DC mayor “provide services” of the Metropolitan police department (MPD) to federal government, but “does not permit the President to seize control of MPD. Nor does it authorize the President to direct MPD in the policing of local crime.”
Key events
White House defends federal takeover of police in Washington
A federal judge will hold a hearing today on the lawsuit filed by the DC government – challenging the Trump administration’s federal takeover of the DC, including Pam Bondi’s move to install the DEA chief Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner”. Judge Ana Reyes will hold today’s hearing at 2pm ET.
In response to the lawsuit, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the following in a statement to the Guardian:
The Trump Administration has the lawful authority to assert control over the D.C. Police, which is necessary due to the emergency that has arisen in our Nation’s Capital as a result of failed leadership. The Democrats’ efforts to stifle this tremendous progress are par for the course for the Defund the Police, Criminals-First Democrat Party.
White House says 33 arrested in Thursday night operations in DC
A White House official tells the Guardian that 33 people were arrested on Thursday night by federal law enforcement. Almost half of these arrests were undocumented immigrants, according to the official.
The White House also said that 1,750 officers took part in Thursday’s operations.
Yesterday, the Pentagon said that all 800 national guard troops had been mobilized, with about 200 soldiers at a time taking turns to assist federal agents and the Metropolitan police department (MPD). The national guard troops are not making arrests at this time, but protecting federal property and aiding law enforcement.
The MPD has not yet provided the number of arrests made by local police on Thursday.
Hillary Clinton would consider nominating Trump for Nobel peace prize if he brokers successful peace deal
As the president prepares for his pivotal meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, he’s received an unlikely vote of confidence from a longstanding rival.
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton – also the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee – said in a podcast interview released today that she would consider nominating Donald Trump for the Nobel peace prize if he could successfully broker a peace deal with the Kremlin leader that doesn’t put Ukraine “in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor”.
Clinton added some crucial caveats while speaking on the Raging Moderates podcast. She said that any potential award endorsement would require Trump to do the following:
Make it clear that there must be a ceasefire, there will be no exchange of territory, and that over a period of time Putin should be actually withdrawing from the territory that he has seized, in order to demonstrate his good-faith efforts, let us say, not to threaten European security.
If Trump were “the architect” of that kind of deal, Clinton said she would nominate him for a Nobel peace prize.
“My goal here is not to allow capitulation to Putin, aided and abetted by the United States,” she added.
This comes after Trump reportedly cold-called Norway’s finance minister last month to ask about a nomination for the Nobel peace prize, according to Norwegian press.
Texas house ends special session, as Democrats again break quorum
With only 95 of the 100 representatives needed to achieve quorum, the Texas house has moved to end the August special session four days early.
House speaker Dustin Burrows told members to “not go very far, as I believe our governor will be calling us back for another special session”, referring to Greg Abbott’s plans to immediately call a second session. Local reports say the next session will begin at noon local time today.
For their part, Texas house Democrats have said they would return as long as the first special session adjourned on Friday, and California introduced its own new congressional map to offset the gains by Republicans. California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced on Thursday that its maps would be coming shortly.
DC’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, confirmed that she will be back in DC today, after travelling to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday to pick her daughter up from summer camp.
In a post on X, Bowser clarified her schedule, after Donald Trump posted a local report which said Bowser had “left town” for the Massachusetts island.
“I am in constant contact with my senior team and have been in constant consultation with our partners throughout a short swing out of the District,” she wrote.
Rosalind Adams
When Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan police department in Washington DC on Monday, he left room for the possibility of making a similar move in other cities across the US, alluding to their high crime rates.
“You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let it happen, we’re not going to lose our cities.”
But both experts and elected officials have been quick to counter Trump’s claims, pointing out how major cities are in fact experiencing dramatic decreases in violent crime rates since they peaked during the pandemic.
“Every category of crime and every population group that the FBI covers is reporting a drop pretty much nationwide,” said Jeff Asher, an analyst who studies criminal justice data, adding that there was no disparity in the trend between red and blue cities or states.
The downward trend has been consistent nationally since around 2022, as the country began to recover from the pandemic, experts said.
“It’s clear that a lot of what we saw during the Covid-19 era has been reversed,” said Ames Grawert, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice who researches crime trends.
While it’s impossible to isolate the exact causes of the spike in crime during the pandemic, several experts point to the collapse of social services as one cause. Since then, state and federal agencies poured money into communities for projects like gun violence prevention programs as well as more streetlights on local roads.
Trump confirms plans for ‘economically severe’ sanctions if Russia doesn’t move on Ukraine
My colleague, Jakub Krupa, is bringing you the latest as Donald Trump heads to Alaska to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin today. It’s hard to emphasise the stakes of this summit, particularly as the world watches.
Jakub reports that the president wrapped a gaggle with the press onboard Air Force One a short while ago.
A few of the key lines here:
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On continuing Russian attacks on Ukraine, Trump says he thinks Putin “is trying to set a stage” and “in his mind that helps him make a better deal”. But the president says “it actually hurts him, and I will be talking to him about it”.
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Trump also affirms his chief aim of today’s meeting: “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them at a table.”
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Trump also confirms his earlier threat of “severe” consequences for Russia if it fails to show willingness to seriously talk about the end of war in Ukraine: “Economically severe. It will be very severe. I’m not doing this for my health, OK, I don’t need it. I’d like to focus on our country, but I’m doing this to save a lot of lives.”
Late yesterday, DC’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, hit back against Pam Bondi’s move to put DEA chief Terry Cole in charge of the capital’s police department. In a post on X, Bowser wrote: “There is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
She also said that her office have “followed the law” and provided the services of the DC police at the request of the president, as outlined in Section 740 of the Home Rule Act.
Bowser also reposted a letter from DC attorney general Brian Schwalb, addressed to the mayor, which said that Bondi’s order is “unlawful” and Bowser is “not legally obligated to follow it”.
Trump police takeover will create ‘immediate, devastating, and irreparable harm’ for DC, federal lawsuit says
According to the federal lawsuit filed by the DC government today, the Trump administration has engaged in “a brazen usurpation of the District’s authority over its own government”.
The suit says that the president’s move to federalise the DC police, and attorney general Pam Bondi’s order to install DEA administrator Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner”, both “exceed the narrow delegation that Congress granted the President in Section 740”.
A reminder, earlier this week the president invoked Section 740 of the DC Home Rule Act, which grants him a 30-day period to control the district’s local law enforcement if he declares a safety emergency. To get an extension, the president would need Congress’s approval.
The president has said that violent crime in DC – which the justice department says experienced a 30-year low in 2024 – is “the worst it’s ever been”.
The lawsuit also states that Section 740 only requires that the DC mayor “provide services” of the Metropolitan police department (MPD) to federal government, but “does not permit the President to seize control of MPD. Nor does it authorize the President to direct MPD in the policing of local crime.”
A recap of overnight events in DC
As the federal takeover of the DC police and deployment of national guard troops entered its fourth night, here’s a recap of what happened overnight.
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The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, ended DC’s “sanctuary policies”. In a directive signed yesterday, she rescinded previous orders – including one from the DC police chief, Pamela Smith – that Bondi’s office says “limited” the Metropolitan police department (MPD) from working with federal officers. Bondi has now scrapped rules which prevent DC police from arresting people “solely for federal immigration warrants” and “restricted certain information from being shared with federal authorities,” a justice department spokesperson said.
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Bondi also stripped power away from Smith, the police chief, and appointed Terry Cole – who leads the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – as “emergency police commissioner”. According to her order, the MPD “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any further directives.
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And today, the DC government announced it is suing the Trump administration for its takeover of the DC police. The district’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, wrote: “Section 740 of the Home Rule Act permits the President to request MPD’s services … Even when Section 740 is lawfully invoked, the Home Rule Act keeps operational control of MPD with the Mayor and Chief, and the President must request MPD services through the Mayor.” He added that the federal government’s actions are “brazenly unlawful” and “infringe on the District’s right to self-governance”.
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Meanwhile, federal law enforcement began conducting sweeps of homeless encampments. Crews tore down a major encampment near the Kennedy Center on Thursday, removing residents and clearing out the remaining encampments across the city. My colleague Kirstin Garriss has more on the latest here.
‘We can’t let a systematic assault on democracy just happen,’ Obama says as he praises Texas Democrats
Former president Barack Obama has praised Texas Democrats for protesting against the state’s gerrymandered GOP-drawn congressional maps by breaking quorum, according to a report from ABC News.
ABC obtained footage of a Zoom meeting on Thursday in which Obama addressed the legislators.
“We can’t let a systematic assault on democracy just happen and stand by and so because of your actions, because of your courage, what you’ve seen is California responding, other states looking at what they can do to offset this mid-decade gerrymandering,” he said.
In the meeting, Obama also said that the Democrats – who left the state capital almost two weeks ago – “helped to lead what is going to be a long struggle”.
He added:
It’s not going to be resolved right away, and it’s going to require, ultimately, the American people understanding the stakes and realizing that we cannot take our freedoms and our democracy for granted. You’ve helped set the tone for that, and I’m grateful for it.
In a statement to ABC News, Texas house minority leader Gene Wu said Obama’s message to the Democrats is “proof that when they stand up and fight back, we don’t stand alone”.
Wu added that “President Obama’s support shows the whole country is watching – and Texas house Democrats won’t be silenced by bullies”.
This comes as Texas Democrats also said they are prepared to return to the state under certain conditions, ending their efforts to block Republicans from passing a new map that would add five GOP seats.
The lawmakers said they would return as long as the legislature ends its first special session on Friday, which Republicans have said they plan to do. However, Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, has said he will immediately call another special session.
