President Donald Trump announced Aug. 11 that he will federalize Washington, D.C.’s police force and order 800 National Guard soldiers to join his efforts in what he called a public safety emergency.
Trump invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act, which allows D.C. to self-govern, permitting the federal government to control the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for 48 hours, though will reportedly last 30 days until Sept. 10. The federalization comes amid broader threats by the Trump administration to revoke the District’s home rule for what he views as the D.C. government’s failure to address crime and homelessness in the city.
Trump said the federalization of D.C. was brought on by a “public safety emergency” regarding crime and homelessness.
“I’m announcing historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said at a press hearing. “This is ‘Liberation Day’ in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back. We’re taking it back under the authorities vested in me as the president of the United States.”
These actions come amid several high-profile criminal incidents this summer, including the attempted carjacking and attack of a former U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee last week. Trump also cited a June incident when a 21-year-old congressional intern from the University of Massachusetts Amherst was shot and killed in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting.
Trump said these incidents and others are evidence of an out-of-control pattern of violence in the District.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people,” Trump said.
In D.C., violent crime is down 26% from 2024, and all crime is down 7%, according to data from the MPD. The crime rate has reached a 30-year low in D.C.
U.S. House of Representatives Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), D.C.’s only representative at the federal level, said the Trump administration is counterproductive and relying on misleading statistics.
“President Trump’s decision to federalize MPD and activate the D.C. National Guard to address crime is an historic assault on D.C. home rule, is a counterproductive, escalatory seizure of D.C.’s resources to use for purposes not supported by D.C. residents, and is more evidence of the urgent need to pass my D.C. statehood bill,” Norton said in a press release.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the federalization of MPD represents a tenuous moment for democracy.
“While this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that given some of the rhetoric of the past that we’re totally surprised,” Bowser said in a press hearing.
With the MPD coming under the control of the federal government, police officers in commissioned special police forces, including the Georgetown University Police Department (GUPD), will likely not see a direct change in duties.
Georgetown University commissioned GUPD as a private police force that “works closely” with MPD to patrol the university. GUPD has full powers of arrest on campus property, which are vested by MPD, but GUPD operates under its own administrative system funded by the university.
A university spokesperson told The Hoya that the university “is monitoring the recent announcement and working to assess any impacts.”
Although GUPD works closely with MPD in some investigations, GUPD’s operations are distinct from those of MPD due to its connection with university property, and the federalization of MPD is unlikely to significantly impact GUPD.
The federal government controls the D.C. National Guard (DCNG), unlike states, where governors have the authority to call in the National Guard. The MPD and DCNG’s federalization is the latest in a string of threats to D.C.’s autonomy granted through Home Rule.
The House Committee on Appropriations passed riders in July that seek to limit D.C.’s control of local funds, including a prohibition on financially supporting low-income women who seek abortions, promoting criminal justice reform efforts and collecting money from traffic tickets. The riders also allow any out-of-state licensed individual to conceal carry a handgun in the District.
Trump said the federalization of MPD also includes work to remove homeless encampments from D.C., though he did not specify where removed individuals will be relocated. The Trump administration began these processes with a March executive order titled “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful,” including removing several encampments in the Georgetown area.
Trump called the encampments “slums,” saying his takeover will remove the encampments across the city.
“Getting rid of the people from underpasses and public spaces all over the city,” Trump said at the press conference. “There are many places they can go, and we’re going to help them as much as you can help. But they’ll not be allowed to turn our capital into a wasteland.”
Trump emphasized beautifying the city, saying it will make the city more appealing for tourists visiting the capital.
“We are going to be removing homeless encampments from all over our parks, our beautiful, beautiful parks, which right now a lot of people can’t walk on,” Trump said at the press conference.
Norton said the federal government can better support D.C. through other initiatives, including passing her D.C. Courts Home Rule Act to give the D.C. Council jurisdiction over local courts.
“If the federal government wanted to be helpful, it could confirm judges to the D.C. Courts, which face a perpetual vacancy crisis due to inaction in the Senate,” Norton said in a press release.
Bowser said the takeover of MPD disregards the abilities of D.C. residents to self-govern.
“We are American citizens,” Bowser said. “Our families go to war, we pay taxes and we uphold the responsibilities of citizenship.”
Bowser added the city will continue working to serve its residents.
“We will continue to operate our government in a way that makes you proud,” Bowser said. “We will balance our budgets, we will deploy our services, our kids are going to start school on August 25th and we will work with the federal government to do the things that they should do for the city.”