Washington — The federal government’s 30-day takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., expires Wednesday, although the D.C. National Guard will remain posted throughout the district.
Congress has not moved to renew the Trump administration’s 30-day takeover of the district’s police force, something that would be necessary for an extension beyond the original public safety emergency Mr. Trump signed, and the president hasn’t been publicly pushing for it. The D.C. National Guard, which is ultimately under Mr. Trump’s control, will remain in the city until Nov. 30.
Senate Democrats had vowed to block any extension of the public safety emergency order, but Politico reported House Speaker Mike Johnson said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s statement that she will coordinate with federal law enforcement indefinitely “resolved some” of the issues with policing the city.
D.C. residents and tourists are likely to see little difference on the streets of the city, with D.C. police, the National Guard and federal law enforcement officers continuing to patrol the streets.
The president declared the D.C. police force under “direct federal control” on Aug. 11, citing his ability to do so for 30 days under Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973. D.C. has more than 3,000 sworn officers, fewer than what Bowser and the police union say it needs.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the Trump administration over the deployment of the National Guard on the streets, saying the president “has run roughshod over a fundamental tenet of American democracy — that the military should not be involved in domestic law enforcement.”
But the White House points to lower crime rates since the federal takeover of the city’s policing, and the introduction of the National Guard. In the first three weeks the president deployed federal troops and law enforcement agents throughout Washington, D.C., a CBS News analysis of crime data found violent crime was down in Washington by almost half when compared to the same 19 days in 2024.
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