Federal judge casts doubt on Bondi’s move to sideline DC police leadership

A judge on Friday weighed limiting the power of the Trump administration to assume control of the police department in Washington, D.C., after suggesting the appointment of Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole to assume the police chief’s duties was illegal.

Judge Ana Reyes gave lawyers for the Department of Justice and the D.C. government until early evening to reach a deal that would limit Cole’s authority, or she would issue a temporary restraining order.

Reyes, a Biden appointee, said broader questions over President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order declaring a crime emergency in the nation’s capital would be addressed in a court hearing next week. 

In the immediate future, the Trump administration will still largely have control over the Metropolitan Police Department regardless of whether it reaches a deal with the D.C. government or becomes subject to a court order.

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Reyes convened the emergency hearing after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued to block Trump’s takeover of D.C.’s law enforcement operations. Schwalb argued the move was unconstitutional and violated the Home Rule Act, a federal law that gives D.C. residents the ability to self-govern.

The hearing was a small setback for the administration, as Reyes indicated that Cole must go through Mayor Muriel Bowser to give any further directives to the police force.

Schwalb on Friday framed the hearing as a win, telling reporters his “expectation is that the key issue with respect to control and command of [the MPD] has been resolved today, and that it is clear, as a matter of law, that it is under the chief of police appointed by the mayor.”

But the law also implies that Bowser must be heavily deferential to Cole, meaning he is likely to be able to continue carrying out the Trump administration’s policing priorities in D.C. regarding immigration and homelessness for a 30-day period.

DOJ attorney Yaakov Roth, arguing on behalf of the government, said the president has “a lot of discretion in determining what’s necessary and appropriate.”

Bowser and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., attended the hearing at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse. Outside the building, dozens gathered to protest the federal takeover, which has also included activating hundreds of National Guard soldiers in D.C. More protesters, including those from the “Free DC” movement, appeared inside the courtroom, underscoring the tension that has arisen over Trump’s orders.

“What we know is that D.C. residents are worried and concerned, and we have a surge of federal officers,” Bowser told reporters. “Chief [Pamela] Smith’s job during this week has been to make sure that if we have and while we have federal officers, that they are being used strategically.”

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At the outset of the hearing, Reyes observed that she will be the first judge to rule on a president’s authority to temporarily take control of the Metropolitan Police Department under the Home Rule Act since Congress passed the legislation in 1973, underscoring the significance of the case.

The judge made clear she did not plan to immediately rule on whether there was a crime emergency, as Trump stated in his executive order, but that some temporary resolution was still needed. 

“I want to get to a practical solution because time is short and there are people who need to know who they are taking direction from and what they are doing,” Reyes told both parties.

Reyes, who has become known for presiding over a fast-paced court that keeps litigators on their toes, struck a careful tone of moderation Friday.

“I don’t think the statute is as narrow as you think or as broad as Mr. Roth thinks,” she told attorney Mitchell Reich, who argued on behalf of the D.C. attorney general.

Schwalb’s lawsuit challenged Trump’s executive order that temporarily federalized D.C. under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s more recent order Thursday that sought to install Cole as the emergency commissioner of the D.C. police force. Schwalb’s office argued the moves were unprecedented and could “wreak operational havoc” on the police department.

Schwalb urged the court to block both of the Trump administration’s orders, stating that the federal government’s temporary takeover of D.C. police under the Home Rule Act “does not authorize this brazen usurpation of the District’s authority over its own government.”

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“They infringe on the District’s right to self-governance and put the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,” he said.

Critics have excoriated Trump’s executive order, arguing it is not reflective of any real emergency in the nation’s capital, which has seen a drop in violent crime (though by how much, exactly, remains a point of contention).

Attorney Norm Eisen, the former White House ethics czar under President Barack Obama, told reporters Thursday that Trump’s order in D.C. is the latest in a “pattern of assaults on the rule of law” in his second term as president, which all involve declaring various forms of “emergency” as a means of sidestepping normal policymaking processes.

Trump “has declared a fake emergency” in D.C., Eisen said. “There is no ‘emergency’ upon which this action with MPD or the federal military is predicated.”

Jessica Sonkin contributed to this report.