Judge: D.C. police chief remains in command, but Trump can likely demand help on immigration [View all]

Source: Washington Post

A federal judge convinced the Justice Department to walk back President Donald Trump's efforts to assert control over the D.C. police department and signaled that she would issue a temporary restraining order if the changes are not complete by Friday evening.

After hearing arguments on an emergency request from D.C. officials to block the Trump administration's takeover of the 3,100-member Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes forged a compromise of sorts between the two sides -- without issuing a ruling -- on the key question of who runs the police department.

But the court did not rule on another key aspect of the case: Whether Trump can commandeer D.C. police officers to enforce immigration violations. That issue is likely to be resolved next week, Reyes said.

In an order issued this week that caught District officials including Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and the police chief by surprise, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi named the top official in the Drug Enforcement Administration as the head of the police department, while rescinding local police policies limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement.

At the end of Friday’s hearing, Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said the administration would agree to change a key section of Bondi’s order that named the DEA chief, Terry Cole, as the commissioner of the D.C. police. Local officials said that removing Police Chief Pamela A. Smith, who was appointed by Bowser, from her duties would be perhaps the gravest violation in history to D.C. home rule.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/08/14/bondi-police-chief-dc-cole/

Judge: D.C. police chief remains in command, but Trump can likely demand help on immigration
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the order by Attorney General Pam Bondi was unlawful and suggested they would not comply.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

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