AURN News with Ebony McMorris

DC Sues to Block Trump’s Takeover of Metropolitan Police Department

Ebony McMorris
August 15, 2025

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The District of Columbia is taking President Donald Trump to federal court, accusing his administration of staging a hostile takeover of its police department.

Less than 12 hours after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi installed DEA Administrator Terrance Cole as emergency police commissioner, Attorney General for the District of Columbia Brian Schwalb filed suit to block the move.

Schwalb says Trump is using the Home Rule Act to bulldoze the city’s chain of command, strip Police Chief Pamela Smith of authority and reverse recent Metropolitan Police Department policies, all without legal grounds.

Brian Schwalb, attorney general for the District of Columbia, center, speaks outside the federal courthouse, Sept. 3, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Lindsay Whitehurst, File)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is backing Schwalb’s stance, saying there’s “no statute that conveys the district’s personal authority to a federal official” and that Smith is still the rightful chief.

Bondi’s order forces MPD to get Cole’s approval before issuing directives, rescinds the city’s code of conduct for officers and increases cooperation with immigration authorities.

Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.