Bowser, D.C. attorney general reject push by Bondi to name emergency police commissioner

 

🅑🅨 🅚🅐🅩🅘 🅕🅐🅗🅢🅘🅝, Washington, D.C. – August 15, 2025

A tense standoff over control of Washington, D.C.’s police force escalated late Thursday as Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb firmly rejected a directive from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to install a federal agent as an “emergency police commissioner.” The order, which city leaders called an unlawful overreach, signals the start of a high-profile legal and political battle over the city’s autonomy.

The dispute followed Bondi’s appointment of Terry Cole, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, to take full powers of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) chief. Acting on a recent executive order from President Donald Trump, Bondi directed Mayor Bowser and MPD Chief Pamela A. Smith to recognize Cole as the department’s ultimate authority and to suspend policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

In a swift response, Bowser declared the order illegal, stating that during a presidentially declared emergency, the law only requires the mayor to provide MPD services for federal purposes at the president’s request. She emphasized that no statute allows the transfer of the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.

Schwalb echoed this position in a letter to Chief Smith, advising her that the directive was unlawful and carried no legal obligation. He argued that the D.C. Home Rule Act does not grant the president authority to replace the police chief or alter the department’s chain of command.

The federal takeover began Monday when President Trump cited a “crime emergency” to invoke a Home Rule Act provision placing MPD under federal control. The move was followed by a National Guard deployment and an increased federal law enforcement presence. Administration officials defended the action as necessary to address what they described as “total lawlessness” in the capital.

Cole’s appointment was presented as a key step in this strategy, with Bondi requiring MPD to seek his approval before issuing any new orders. The directive also rescinded D.C.’s “sanctuary city” policies, replacing them with expanded cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Local leaders and immigrant rights advocates condemned the intervention as a political attack on D.C.’s right to self-governance. The conflict now appears destined for the courts, where the boundaries between federal power and the District’s autonomy will face intense scrutiny.

Related questions and answers

Q1: What is the D.C. Home Rule Act?
A1: It is a 1973 law granting Washington, D.C., limited self-government, including the authority to elect a mayor and council, while reserving certain powers for Congress.

Q2: Can the president legally replace the D.C. police chief?
A2: Legal experts say the Home Rule Act does not explicitly grant this authority, which is why the matter is expected to be challenged in court.

Q3: What are “sanctuary city” policies?
A3: They are local rules limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement to protect undocumented residents from deportation.