Tensions have grown in D.C. between the city’s government and the increased presence of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops.
As we come to the end of the fourth week since President Donald Trump’s declaration of a crime emergency in D.C., tensions have grown between the city’s government and the increased presence of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops.
On top of that, this week has seen everything from false claims that the president died to the release of thousands of files from the Jeffery Epstein case.
So where does the District stand now? Let’s break it down:
Monday
Last week, President Trump threatened to deploy the National Guard to other major metropolitan cities around the country that he claims are also plagued by crime.
Among them, the president targeted Baltimore, Maryland, calling it “a hellhole.”
In an interview with ABC News, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore defended the state, doubling down on his statement that he would not allow the mobilization of Maryland’s National Guard.
“I have no interest in fighting with the president, but I have an interest in fighting for my communities and fighting for our people,” Moore told ABC News’ “This Week.”
He added that the president’s “offer” to deploy the National Guard is a waste of federal funding and that the deployment in D.C. is “performative.”
The president praised D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for working with federal forces, but repeated his criticism of Baltimore, saying “Baltimore’s a very unsafe place.”
Tuesday
Trump said on social media last week that the law enforcement surge has made D.C. “a crime free zone.” He doubled down at a press conference on Tuesday — his first in five days of radio silence — saying, “We have no crime.”
However, in an order dated Sept. 2, Mayor Bowser said the city government would continue to coordinate with federal law enforcement “during and after the Presidential emergency,” signaling that the District may continue to see the presence of extra law enforcement working with city agencies.
In the letter, the mayor laid out the role of the “Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center,” or SBEOC, which is responsible for managing the city’s response to Trump’s “Safe and Beautiful Task Force.” Bowser said the center would community the city’s requests and work with multiple federal agencies to address its concerns.
Many took the mayor’s letter as a nod that the District would continue operating differently under the federal law enforcement surge and that an extension was imminent.
The Trump administration made it clear that they would, in the very least, try to make that happen.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference on Tuesday that crime in D.C. “has plummeted and dangerous criminals are being removed from the streets every single night.”
Congress returned to session Tuesday and multiple House Republicans made it clear that they’d be keeping the pressure on D.C. with the proposal of several pieces of legislation that would address crime.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, Mayor Bowser issued a clarification to her order outlining how the District will work with federal law enforcement after Sept. 10. She said the language of the letter that said the District would coordinate with federal law enforcement “during and after the Presidential emergency,” does not mean they expect an extension of Trump’s crime emergency.
“It does the exact opposite. It lays out a framework to exit this period,” Bowser said in a post on X.
She said the order simply meant to roll out the path the city government intends to take, acting as a framework for how they would work with federal agencies during “and after the emergency.”
She also pushed back on the idea that the order welcomes a continued federal law enforcement surge in the city.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton spoke at a press conference on Wednesday, calling for an immediate end to the deployment of over 2,000 National Guard troops in the District.
“President Trump has used D.C. as props in a political play to showcase his own power,” Norton said, adding that the president’s recent actions are “unlawful, unwarranted and unprecedented.”
Norton remains critical of the Trump administration, having introduced several bills and even asking Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for an estimate of the cost of the National Guard’s deployment.
A previous estimate related to a National Guard deployment ordered by the president in 2020 indicated that it costs more than $500 per National Guard member. That would mean this deployment in D.C. likely costs more than $1 million a day.
Despite her stance on the law enforcement surge, Norton said she did not disagree with the mayor that crime is actually falling. Recent numbers from the White House indicate there have been over 1,600 arrests since Aug. 11 when the surge began.
Although no votes have been scheduled to determine the extension of the deployment and surge, a National Guard official said that D.C. troops have had their orders extended through December, the Associated Press reported.
The official said that while the extension doesn’t mean that all 950 D.C. Guard troops will serve until the end of December, but it is a strong indication that their role is not winding down anytime soon. The order only applies to the nearly 950 members of D.C.’s National Guard, and not to the remaining thousand or so of guard members from other states.
The National Guard official said leaders also are expected to begin putting out policies on leave and time off for deployed troops — another sign that military leaders expect the deployment to go on for a longer period of time.
Thursday
On Thursday, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the Trump administration in federal court, challenging the president’s deployment of National Guard members.
Schwalb said in the lawsuit that the deployment of troops is an illegal use of the military and that what is happening in D.C. is a “military occupation.”
“What the president is doing is illegal. He’s not respecting Congress, he’s not respecting Home Rule, he’s not respecting D.C. residents,” agreed At-Large D.C. Council member Robert White.
Mayor Bowser said Thursday that her focus is on preparing for when the emergency ends, which under the law would be Sept. 10, unless Congress extends it.
“This has been a legal question throughout the emergency, not just today. And I will just reiterate that my focus, and the focus of our emergency operations center, is on planning for the exit out of the emergency next week,” she said.
As the possibility of an extended surge remains unclear, House Republicans continued with their push to lessen so called “soft on crime” tendencies from the D.C. government. On Thursday, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee said they were weighing 14 pieces of legislation that would overhaul criminal justice policies in D.C., the Washington Post reported.
Some of the bills include repealing the District’s massive police reform bill, abolishing the role of D.C.’s elected attorney general and getting rid of the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission, the Post reported.
Still, no vote has been scheduled to extend Trump’s declaration of a crime emergency by Congress.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Thursday he’d be working with federal law enforcement agencies to resolve some issues, but made no comments on where they stand with the extension vote.
Friday
On Friday, Congress made it clear they would allow the president’s crime emergency declaration and the deployment of the National Guard expire ahead of its Sept. 10 deadline.
Instead, House Republicans will focus on passing a slate of crime reform bills. Among them, they intend to toughen sentences for criminals and continue the beautification efforts of removing graffiti and restoring public monuments.
In a release on Friday, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said the committee would hold a formal markup meeting on Sept. 10 to discuss the bills and “fulfill its constitutional duty to oversee District affairs and make D.C. safe again.”
GOP leaders in the House and Senate haven’t seen a reason to act, given that Bowser is working with federal authorities and crime is steadily declining.
However, Trump has indicated that he intends to keep the National Guard on D.C.’s streets for the foreseeable future.
“Georgia is proud to stand with the Trump administration in its mission to ensure the security and beauty of our nation’s capital,” Kemp said in a statement, adding that the troops will go to D.C. “to aid in restoring public safety.”
The White House reported there were 73 arrests overnight into Friday, among them an undocumented immigrant that is currently on the terrorist watchlist. They reported 10 firearms were also seized and a missing child was found.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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