August 15, 2025
Trump federalizes DC police in unprecedented local control seizure
Democracy dies in the capital as federal force replaces local control
🛡️National Security📜Constitutional Law🏙️Local Issues
President Trump announced today the federal takeover of Washington D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, with Attorney General Pam Bondi naming DEA administrator Terry Cole as "emergency police commissioner" while deploying National Guard troops for crime fighting. The move gives federal officials direct control over local law enforcement in the nation's capital, bypassing D.C.'s elected government and mayor in an unprecedented assertion of presidential authority over municipal police.
Trump deployed 800 National Guard troops to DC on August 11, 2025, and federalized the Metropolitan Police Department under Attorney General 
Pam Bondi using Section 740 of the DC Home Rule Act of 1973.
The takeover occurred despite DC violent crime dropping 26% in 2025 and hitting a 30-year low in 2024, according to Justice Department data, undermining claims of a public safety emergency.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Guard units were formally mobilized Monday morning and would flow into Washington streets throughout the week under executive order authority.
Trump invoked emergency powers claiming DC suffered from 'crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor,' declaring 'liberation day' while flanked by Interior Secretary Burgum, AG Bondi, and FBI Director Patel.
The Posse Comitatus Act historically prevents military forces from acting as domestic police, but Trump bypassed these constitutional limits through emergency declarations and federal takeover authority.
Seven hundred thousand DC residents lost local democratic control over policing as federal appointees replaced elected officials' authority over law enforcement decisions and resource allocation.
🛡️National Security📜Constitutional Law🏙️Local Issues
People, bills, and sources
Donald Trump
President
Pam Bondi
Attorney General
Pete Hegseth
Defense Secretary
Doug Burgum
Interior Secretary
Kash Patel
FBI Director
What You Can Do
1
Call 202-224-3121 to demand congressional oversight of federal police takeovers in local jurisdictions
2
Support DC statehood advocates to prevent future federal override of local democratic governance
3
Monitor National Guard activity in your area as precedent expands federal military policing authority
4
Contact civil liberties organizations challenging constitutional violations of Posse Comitatus Act
5
Advocate for local officials to resist federal takeover attempts of city government functions
6
Document federal overreach to support legal challenges to unconstitutional seizure of local democracy