Our U.S. President and Commander in Chief has broad and almost limitless power related to declaration of emergency and control of our national defense and its deployment in times of need.
The National Guard, the standard bearers of our State Militia, continue the service of our Revolutionary War veterans and even later American Civil War troops, all of which were trained and dispatched the states, and which legally can be ‘federalized' into national service, domestically and abroad. The District of Columbia, is not a state, though the municipal government has a massive budget and a population of more than 700,000 across 68.35 square miles. The President and Congress retain Home Rule Control when necessary over the district created from land donated by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the state of Maryland from largely reclaimed swampland, at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, though parts of the district rise to an elevation of 410 feet, and the population has increased since its founding 235 years ago, like most modern urban centers, the District has a crime problem.
Federal workers were only fully ordered to return to their offices INSIDE the District, post-pandemic, near the start of the 2nd Trump Presidency.
During May of 2025, two interns from the Israeli Embassy were gunned down, and in July, at the Mount Vernon Metro Station, another well-regarded intern working on Capitol Hill for Kansas Congressman Ron Estes was shot and killed along with two others who were critically injured, but survived. Against this backdrop, a D.C. Police commissioner was suspended, for allegedly manipulating crime data, while overall crime numbers in D.C. have been on the decline, as in most major American cities, including Atlanta.
On August 11, President Trump announced an emergency Home Rule federal takeover of the District's Police Department by the U.S. Department of Justice to be led by Terrance Cole, the Trump Administration's newly confirmed Chief of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). A President has this power for 30-days, and then will need to involve Congress if they choose to extend the takeover. The President has also federalized and called up 800 National Guard Troops and will have F.B.I. agents on the streets further policing the District. Though all legal and not without precedent, a takeover and deployment of this scope has never previously been attempted.
Despite being home to most of the nation's federal law enforcement agencies, and particularly when outside the heavily trafficked federal district and tourism areas, the city is covered with homeless encampments and a feeling of lacking public safety. Not coincidentally, the District is also battling a major rat infestation. The end of cash bail in the district was followed by the D.C. Mayor and City Council allowing most all detainees awaiting trial to be released on their own recognizance. The result has been a flood of new crimes, routinely committed by repeat offenders awaiting trial and an increasing problem with serious crimes committed by juveniles and gang members.
Using D.C. as an incubator to try and solve as well as reduce crime is warranted. As a reasonably regular visitor to D.C. on business, I have noted the increase in squalor, homeless encampments and other distractions from the beauty and safety of our nation's capital since around 2010, this problem is not new...nor at a crescendo.
But the Trump Presidency continues to push the limits of Executive Power, and often a new movement or priority will distract attention from another challenge or other problem for the Administration. A safer and cleaner Washington, D.C. is both needed and welcomed, however just because a President and Congress CAN take 0ver and run the District's police and public safety departments does not mean that they should.
My hope is that this show of force does have the desired effect and that homeless encampments, which are also a threat to public health as well as public safety will be cleaned out, though homelessness itself is not a crime, those experiencing it are more prone to committing property crimes, and homeless women are very vulnerable to sexual assault.
But I have to ask, as President Trump has long been known for being litigious as well as leaning into the broadest definitions and limits of Presidential authority and power... Why didn't the White House federalize the D.C. Police or area National Guard members or call on the resources of various federal law enforcement agencies, when our U.S. Capitol was under assault on January 6, 2021, when President Trump was still President during his first term?
