D.C.-area Dems rage as Trump takes control of city's policing
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Donald Trump speaks at a White House press conference on Aug. 11. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Democratic lawmakers from the Washington, D.C. area are blasting President Trump for deploying the National Guard to the city and seizing control of its police force in an effort to crack down on crime.
Why it matters: "Shocking stuff, even for Trump," Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) told Axios, adding, "Suspicious minds might wonder if this is just kind of a first step towards a move on other parts of the government in D.C."
- "At the end of the day, it's pretty telling. January 6th ... he doesn't want to call the National Guard. Here you get essentially a minor felony, and he's going to call the National Guard and federalize the D.C. police?" Ivey added.
- "It's ridiculous," he said. "It really is."
- Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) called it a "historic assault on D.C. home rule" and a "counterproductive, escalatory seizure of D.C.'s resources to use for purposes not supported by D.C. residents" in a statement.
State of play: Trump said Monday he will federalize the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and send the National Guard into the city in a major escalation of his campaign to tackle local crime.
- Trump has spent days threatening such a takeover after a DOGE staffer was allegedly beaten during an early-morning carjacking.
- Trump, at a White House press conference, called the move a "historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor, and worse."
What they're saying: Ivey and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who both represent the D.C. suburbs, pointed to data that suggests violent crime in the city has dropped in recent years.
- Raskin, in an interview with Axios, said Trump "continues to search for distractions and provocations to divert attention from his outrageous refusal to release the Epstein files."
- "Of course, the president has a major political bone to pick with the people of Washington, D.C., who have voted 10-to-1 against him at every opportunity. So this is one more chance to exact revenge," Raskin added.
- James Walkinshaw, the Democratic nominee to succeed the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), said in a statement the deployment is a "transparent attempt to distract from the crises Trump has created," including the Epstein issue.
Between the lines: Trump said he will call up 800 D.C. National Guard troops and said he may send in the military as well "if needed."
- He said he is taking control of the D.C. Police under the Home Rule Act, which allows such a move in response to "special conditions of an emergency nature" for up to 30 days.
- Congress can, in theory, vote to terminate the emergency, but it is unlikely to do so with Republicans in charge of both chambers.
The bottom line: "It's a very extreme exercise of these powers, raising all kinds of legal questions," said Raskin, who is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.
- Raskin said he will introduce a joint resolution to end the emergency later this week — as soon as the necessary 48-hour window has passed.
