President Donald Trump has taken control of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department and ordered the deployment of the National Guard under a provision of the District’s Home Rule Act that no president has previously used. He issued the order on Monday, and by Tuesday, August 12, National Guard personnel were stationed across the city. The administration has described the measure as a response to crime, while city officials point to data showing violent crime at a thirty-year low.

The Home Rule Act, signed into law in 1973, allowed District residents to elect a mayor and city council but preserved certain powers for the federal government. Section 740 authorizes the president to assume command of the police department for up to 48 hours during emergencies, with the option to extend control for up to 30 days. Until now, this provision had not been used.

Trump pointed to several recent incidents, including the killing of a 21-year-old congressional intern and the assault of a Department of Government Ethics employee during an attempted carjacking, as reasons for the intervention. Speaking at a White House press conference on August 11, 2025, he referred to the action as “Liberation Day in D.C.” and said, “We are going to take our Capitol back.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said no president had previously asserted authority over the Metropolitan Police and questioned whether the conditions met the legal threshold under the Home Rule Act. She cited official statistics showing steep declines in violent crime since 2023, including a 50 percent reduction in carjackings last year and further decreases in 2025. Bowser noted that more than half of those arrested in such incidents are juveniles, a factor that has shaped the city’s criminal justice approach but has also drawn criticism from the Trump administration.

The duration of the federal control has not been specified, and the scope of operational changes remains unclear. The National Guard has been deployed to the capital in the past, including during the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations and the events of January 6, 2021. However, the takeover of the city’s police department marks a first in the District’s history.

This move coincides with a separate legal dispute over the president’s decision to send National Guard troops to Los Angeles despite objections from California Governor Gavin Newsom. That case is now being heard in federal court in San Francisco, where a judge will determine whether the deployment violated federal law.

While Congress retains the authority to review and overturn local laws in Washington, D.C., expanding presidential power beyond the limits of the Home Rule Act would require legislation.