--- title: White House Backs Off 'Takeover' of D.C. Police Chief Role description: D.C.'s police chief will stay in her post after a court challenge, but the White House still has sweeping powers over the city and its mayor canonical: https://time.com/7310140/dc-national-guard-federal-police/ author: Rebecca Schneid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-16T19:04:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T01:46:26.314Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Backs Off 'Hostile Takeover' of D.C. Police og:description: Police chief Pamela Smith will remain in control over the force, but will still answer to the White House. og:url: https://time.com/7310140/dc-national-guard-federal-police/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d292eada38b0b94/6998c9081500fb6560aa6854/GettyImages-2230189184.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Trump Increases Federal Law Enforcement Presence, Deploys National Guard In Nation's Capital og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Backs Off 'Hostile Takeover' of D.C. Police twitter:description: Police chief Pamela Smith will remain in control over the force, but will still answer to the White House. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d292eada38b0b94/6998c9081500fb6560aa6854/GettyImages-2230189184.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Backs Off 'Hostile Takeover' of D.C. Police Chief Role > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Aug 16, 2025 7:04 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 14: Members of the National Guard walk on the National Mall on August 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation's capital. WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 14: Members of the National Guard walk on the National Mall on August 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation's capital.Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Aug 16, 2025 7:04 PM UTC The White House has backed off plans to [replace Washington D.C.'s police chief](https://time.com/7308918/trump-washington-dc-2020-george-floyd-protests/) after a judge indicated they would block the move. President Donald Trump this week[ invoked emergency powers](https://time.com/7308788/trump-washington-dc-national-guard/) to take control of the D.C. police department and call in the National Guard to a city that he claimed is overrun by "bloodshed, bedlam and squalor"—[a claim that is disputed by experts](https://time.com/7309133/dc-crime-stats-trump-national-guard/). **Read More:** [_Trump Paints a Picture of D.C. as a Crime-Ridden Hell-Hole. Here Are the Facts_](https://time.com/7309133/dc-crime-stats-trump-national-guard/) As part of the federal takeover, [Attorney General Pam Bondi](https://time.com/7304031/march-for-our-lives-pam-bondi-shootings-jaclyn-corin/) announced the appointment of Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terrance C. Cole as “[Emergency Police Commissioner](https://time.com/7309817/washington-dc-emergency-police-commissioner-appointment-terry-cole/),” giving him the powers of the police chief. The city’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit calling for an [emergency restraining order](https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2025-08/Temporary%20Restraining%20Order%20Motion%20-%20District%20v.%20Trump.pdf) to block the move, accusing the Trump Administration of implementing a “hostile takeover” of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) that would lead to “imminent, irreparable harm”. “In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive,” Smith wrote in the lawsuit Judge Ana Reyes said in a Friday hearing that, according to the [Home Rule Act](https://time.com/7309000/dc-home-rule-act-trump/), the Department of Justice needed to rewrite the section of the executive order that placed Cole in charge, and that he needed to go through the city’s mayor. Reyes stopped short of issuing a restraining order, but indicated that if the DOJ did not rewrite the section, she would. **Read More:** [_D.C. Sues Trump Administration Over Police Takeover and Rallies Against ‘Emergency Commissioner’ Appointment_](https://time.com/7309817/washington-dc-emergency-police-commissioner-appointment-terry-cole/) “The statute \[The Home Rule Act\] would have no meaning at all if the president could just say ‘we’re taking over your police department,’” Reyes said. In a press conference after the hearing, Schwalb touted the result as a “very important win for Home Rule today.” A new directive by Bondi following the lawsuit allowed for Chief Pamela Smith to remain in charge of the force, though the city will still be under the Administration’s control, and orders will be sent through the city’s Mayor Muriel Bowser. The Trump Administration will still essentially have control over the city, but Smith will maintain control of the day-to-day operations of the MPD. In Bondi’s new directive, though, she also [required MPD to comply](https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1956552333686432047) with the Trump Administration’s aggressive immigration tactics, rescinding two police practices that limited MPD’s immigration enforcement—also known as [“sanctuary policies.”](https://time.com/7222159/what-are-sanctuary-cities-why-is-trump-targeting-them/) Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said that Bondi “issued a new directive to Mayor Bowser requiring MPD to provide the services found necessary by her designee, DEA Administrator Terry Cole, to comply fully and completely with federal immigration law and authorities, regardless of any policies MPD might otherwise have.” **Read More:** [_Trump Took Over the D.C. Police. He Can’t Do It In Other Cities, Legal Experts Say_](https://time.com/7309176/trump-washington-dc-police-other-cities/) She added, “President Trump will continue pursuing all efforts to Make DC Safe Again and end violent crime despite liberal opposition.” D.C’s At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson reacted on X that, “Respectfully, the Attorney General does not have the authority to revoke laws.” In the first week alone of the Trump Administration's federal takeover, [nearly 200 arrests](https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1956435015522275558) have been reported in the city, including many [undocumented immigrants](https://time.com/7309735/trump-dc-police-arrests/), which has alarmed civil rights groups. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7310140/dc-national-guard-federal-police/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7310140/dc-national-guard-federal-police/"},"headline":"White House Backs Off 'Hostile Takeover' of D.C. 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