‘Hostile acquisition’: DC Attorney General Files Case against Trump Admin; Court hearing is scheduled for today
The Attorney General of Washington DC Brian Shwalab has filed a case against President Donald Trump’s administration, alleging “hostile acquisition” of the city police force. Trump said this step was necessary to fight violent crime.Earlier this week, Trump kept the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under federal control and deployed 800 National Guard soldiers on the city roads. On Thursday, Attorney General Palm Bondi appointed Terry Cole, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, as the “Emergency” Commissioner of Police.In filing in court, Shwalab argued that the federal law does not allow the federal government to handle the city’s police force in this way. He said that Trump’s administration had “illegally confiscated operating control” by Trump’s administration by involving federal officials and issuing policy instructions.Schwalb has demanded a temporary preventive order to block Bondi’s appointment and to rule for the court that Trump’s executive order is more than his authority in the district. The hearing is scheduled for 2.00 pm local time (1800 GMT).In a statement on social media, Schwalb said, “By announcing an hostile acquisition of MPD, the administration is misusing its limited, temporary rights under the Home Rule Act, violating the right to self-governance and risking the safety of DC residents and visitors.”DC Mayor Muril Boseer also criticized the move, saying that there is no law that allows a federal officer to control the personnel of the city.Washington DC is not a state and works under a special system that gives Congress wide powers on local affairs. From the mid -1970s, the Home Rule Act, allows the residents to elect the mayor and the city council, but the Congress still has a final control over the city’s budget.Republican critics have accused the heavy democratic city of being crime, which is working deteriorating due to being homeless and has been abolished. However, police data suggests that according to Mayor Boseer, violent crime between 2023 and 2024 decreased considerably, reaching its lowest level in 30 years.Trump has said that he wants to remove the homeless snails from the city, describing Washington as “under siege” with thugs and killers on his true social platform with a worse crime rate compared to some of the world’s most dangerous countries.
