Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) denounced the Trump administration’s move to federalize the city’s police force as “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful.”
Schwalb said Monday in a post on social platform X, after President Trump’s announcement in the morning, a “crime emergency” doesn’t exist in the District, noting that violent crime reached a 30-year low last year and is currently 26 percent lower this year than at this same point last year.
“We are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents,” he said.
Trump claimed during his announcement that the federal government is taking control of the local police because the city has been “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people.”
The Home Rule Act, which grants the city a certain number of self-governing powers, allows the president to federalize the D.C. police for up to 30 days. Trump must provide Congress with written notification of his rationale for taking control of the police within 48 hours, and congressional approval would be needed to extend the president’s control of the police beyond the 30 days.
Trump’s decision comes after a former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency was attacked during a carjacking in D.C. earlier this month. But data shows that violent crime dropped 35 percent from 2023 to 2024.
The numbers in most categories of crime listed on the Metropolitan Police Department’s website are also lower for 2025 than at this time in 2024.
Democrats have been quick to condemn Trump’s action as a power grab, a distraction and a violation of D.C.’s sovereignty.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called it “political theater” that ignores the progress that D.C. has made in reducing crime. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Trump has “no basis” to take over the police department and “no credibility” on the issue of law and order.
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