Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and city Attorney General Brian Schwalb pushed back on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s emergency police commissioner appointment, calling it “unlawful.”
Bondi on Thursday night issued a directive that places the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, as D.C.’s “emergency police commissioner.” The position will give Cole the same authority as Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith, who reports directly to Bowser.
Following Bondi’s directive, Bowser posted on X late Thursday, “Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President. We have followed the law. In reference to the U.S. Attorney General’s order, there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”
In her post, Bowser shared Schwalb’s letter to Smith, which reads, “It is my opinion that the Bondi order is unlawful, and that you are not legally obligated to follow it.”
Schwalb added that the Home Rule Act “does not authorize the President, or his delegee, to remove or replace the Chief of Police; to alter the chain of command within MPD; to demand services directly from you, MPD, or anyone other than the Mayor; to rescind or suspend MPD orders or directives; or to set the general enforcement priorities of MPD or otherwise determine how the District pursues purely local law enforcement. The Bondi Order is, therefore, ultra vires.”
Bondi had also rescinded Smith’s order that permitted MPD officers to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in a limited capacity, along with other MPD policies that limit inquiries into immigration status and prevent MPD from arresting suspected illegal migrants based solely on federal immigration warrants.
The U.S. attorney general’s order also said that the MPD must “receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any orders.
“Having been duly appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council, you are the lawfully appointed Chief of Police of the District of Columbia,” Schwalb wrote to Smith. “Therefore, members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor.”
President Trump on Monday officially ordered federal law enforcement officers to the city, saying that crime in the capital is rampant. He has also taken control of the D.C.’s police department and deployed the National Guard.
