08.11.25

Cantwell Statement on Trump’s Planned Federal Takeover of D.C. Law Enforcement

CAMAS, WA – Today, President Donald Trump announced troubling plans to place the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and activate the D.C. National Guard, even though federal officials announced earlier this year that crime rates in the region are at a 30-year low and have continued to drop since then. The President’s actions will also undermine efforts by federal law enforcement to go after federal and international crimes.

 

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) issued the following statement:

“Today is another absurd attempt by the President to use emergency powers where they don’t apply.

“DC’s violent crime rate has been going down for the last decade.

“One of best ways to help cities fight crime is funding community policing programs that have reduced violent crime rates in some cities by as much as 50%.

“But the President has cut these community programs, Byrne JAG, and other grants by $500 million.

“The U.S. Attorney General should let DC mayor Muriel Bowser do her job and the FBI should do theirs. Which means the FBI fighting money laundering, sex trafficking and combatting drug trafficking.

“If the President really wanted to fight crime in our cities, he would create a Fentanyl Task Force with the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and local law enforcement sharing resources and working collaboratively to tackle this scourge. This approach is showing great success on one of our worse crime problems--Fentanyl.

“It may take a while for the courts to act on this overreach by President Trump who is simply trying to project power. But the American people know there are better ways to solve their problems than this authoritarian move.”