DC lawyer basic describes Pam Bondi order as 'illegal'

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U.S. Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi issued an order on Thursday to slap down D.C. Metropolitan Police Division sanctuary insurance policies and place Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrence Cole accountable for the division as emergency police commissioner — however D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed again, highlighting a letter through which District of Columbia Legal professional Basic Brian Schwalb opined that the order from Bondi "is illegal."

"In reference to the U.S. Legal professional Basic’s order, there isn't any statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official," Bowser mentioned in a social media submit.

Bowser included a letter from Schwalb to MPD Police Chief Pamela Smith, through which the D.C. lawyer basic mentioned that, in his view, the order from Bondi "is illegal" and that Smith is "not legally obligated to observe it."

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Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a press convention after President Donald Trump introduced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Division on the Wilson Constructing on Aug. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Pictures)

In her order, Bondi declared that police management "should obtain approval from Commissioner Cole earlier than issuing any additional directives to the MPD."

Bondi rescinded an govt order that was simply issued on Thursday by the police chief.

She additionally suspended elements of two basic orders "till additional discover," and directed the MPD "to implement, to the utmost extent permissible by regulation, part 22-1307, District of Columbia Code, and all District of Columbia municipal laws pertaining to the illegal occupancy of public areas."

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U.S. Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi speaks throughout a information convention on the DEA headquarters on July 15, 2025 in Arlington, Va. (Alex Wong/Getty Pictures)

The showdown between the 2 attorneys basic comes as President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on crime within the nation's capital.

This week he issued an govt order that declared "the Mayor of the District of Columbia (Mayor) shall present the providers of the Metropolitan Police power for Federal functions for the utmost interval permitted beneath part 740 of the House Rule Act."

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However within the letter to the D.C. police chief, Schwalb asserted that Part 740 of the House Rule Act "doesn't authorize the President, or his delegee, to take away or change the Chief of Police; to change the chain of command inside MPD; to demand providers instantly from you, MPD, or anybody aside from the Mayor; to rescind or droop MPD orders or directives; or to set the overall enforcement priorities of MPD or in any other case decide how the District pursues purely native regulation enforcement.