Homeland Security Investigations(ap photo)
President Donald Trump will direct federal agents to patrol Washington around the clock, seven days a week, the White House announced on Aug. 13, amid efforts to reduce crime in the nation’s capital.
Trump told reporters earlier on Wednesday that federal control of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department should extend past 30 days.
“We’re going to be asking for extensions on that—long-term extensions,” he said at the Kennedy Center. “You can’t have 30 days.”
Later, a White House official said that the president is using a “whole of government effort” to improve public safety in compliance with Trump’s March 28 executive order, entitled “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.”
That effort will include deploying more than 400 National Guard troops around the capital on Wednesday night. They will then start patrolling Washington 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The White House official also gave an update on Trump’s operational efforts in the capital since Aug. 7, with 103 total arrests made. The charges for the arrests so far relate to homicide (1), narcotics (7), firearms (33), warrants (10), and illegal immigration (23).
Since Thursday, a total of 24 firearms have been seized in the nation’s capital. The federal response has included 19 multi-agency teams deployed throughout all of Washington’s seven districts.
On Tuesday night alone, federal forces made 43 arrests and seized seven firearms, the White House official said. The federal teams participating in Tuesday night’s efforts consisted of more than 1,400 participants, including 30 National Guard troops.
Congress to Decide
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 allows the president to declare an emergency and take over Washington’s police department for two days, which can be extended to 30 days by notifying Congress.
Congress must approve an emergency declaration beyond 30 days, which could see a Democrat-led filibuster in the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Trump’s takeover of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department a “political ploy and attempted distraction” on X.
On Thursday, Trump also floated declaring a national emergency, suggesting it would allow him to circumvent the D.C. Home Rule Act if Congress does not approve his emergency declaration extension.
“I don’t want to call a national emergency. If I have to, I will, but I think the Republicans in Congress will approve this pretty much unanimously,” the president told reporters.
Trump first declared a crime emergency in Washington on Aug. 11. The House and Senate, both under Republican control, return from recess in early September, which falls within 30 days of his emergency declaration.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on X that congressional Republicans support Trump’s “effort to clean up Washington, end the crime wave, and restore the beauty of the greatest capital in the world.”
Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.
