D.C. AG files lawsuit countering federal control of D.C.
News | By Easton Martin | August 15, 2025
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a federal lawsuit today challenging what he and other city leaders call an overreach by the Trump administration.
The legal action targets a move by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who issued an order to strip authority from the city’s Metropolitan Police Department chief and install the Drug Enforcement Administration administrator, Terry Cole, as an “emergency police commissioner.” Schwalb labeled the maneuver a “hostile takeover” and “a brazenly unlawful” usurpation of D.C.’s power to govern its own police force.
Emphasizing the principle of home rule, Schwalb argued that even under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which permits federal involvement during declared emergencies, the city maintains operational control through its mayor and police chief. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring Bondi’s directive unconstitutional, vacating her order, and restoring full authority to local leadership.
Mayor Muriel Bowser echoed Schwalb’s stance, asserting that no law empowers a federal official to commandeer local police personnel. The dispute marks an escalation in tensions between Trump’s administration and D.C.’s elected officials over the boundaries of federal power and local autonomy.
Schwalb’s filing asks a federal judge to block the order and reaffirm that control of D.C.’s police remains with the city even during a federal emergency.
