The Federal takeover of Washington D.C. law enforcement

 

A number of interesting perspectives have emerged on President Trump's takeover of the Washington D.C. police department and other law enforcement functions.

Quoth The Raven points out a very basic and inescapable logic behind this step.

For too long, the capital of the United States—the city that houses the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court—has looked less like the shining beacon of democracy and more like a live-action hellscape from a horror movie. Tourists and school trips meandering through downtown D.C. to learn about the history of our great nation are confronted with makeshift shantytowns, hypodermic needles and smells worse than J.B. Pritzker’s bathroom the morning after a long night at Big Ed’s Bar-B-Que.

. . .

When world leaders, diplomats, and tourists step off the plane, they’re not just visiting a city; they’re seeing America’s face.

And if that face is covered in human feces a block from the White House, guess what—they’re not going to be thinking “land of the free,” they’re going to be thinking “third-world cosplay”.

. . .

And this is where Trump’s move makes perfect sense ... There’s nothing shallow about caring how your country looks. It’s not “cosmetic,” it’s called “national pride.” When visitors—whether foreign dignitaries or American schoolkids—arrive in Washington, what they see should tell them we are a capable, functioning nation that respects itself.

. . .

Right now, what they see too often screams “we’ve given up.” And nothing broadcasts “we’ve lost control” like a tent city and drug-addled homeless within selfie range of the White House ... sometimes the fastest way to fix a broken system is to start by sweeping the front porch—especially when the front porch happens to be the front porch of America.

There's more at the link.

I entirely agree.  In fact, I'd apply the same logic to any and every US city and town.  Do we want the places where we live, where we choose to associate with others, to look like Third World hellholes?  If we don't, let's clean them up before that gets any worse.  As far as I know, there's no constitutional right to crap on the sidewalk or inject yourself with illegal narcotics on streets where people live, work and shop.

Jeff Childers adds that this may be the start of cleaning up the notoriously corrupt and ineffective Washington Police Department.

During January 6th, the Metro Police Department outed itself as a sold-out, partisan political actor deeply aligned with Democrats and hostile to Americans who share different beliefs. Now that Pam Bondi has assumed control of MPD, get this, she has hire/fire authority ... my guess (and I’m just guessing) is that we’re about to see a DOGE-style, anti-DEI deconstruction of DC’s entire police department. I think that could be what this is really all about. The dots are right there.

. . .

But if the real plan is to strip MPD down to the studs — purge leadership, dismantle DEI programs, root out anyone they think is politically hostile, and rebuild the force in the Trump-Bondi image — then all those federal bodies aren’t temporary help, they’re a replacement backbone. They’ll keep the city covered while the locals get benched, investigated, or walked out.

. . .

If I’m right, if that is the play, the public story is “crime crackdown,” but the operational reality is federal receivership with a remodel crew already on site. Brilliant.

But I could be wrong. Very wrong. There could be a lot more to this move. A much bigger dot ... What if —and I am just wondering here— what if the Administration is securing DC before it makes a really controversial move? Like arresting someone near the top of the political food chain?

Suppose you were planning something like that, and you wanted to preclude the otherwise inevitable violent protests in the Nation’s Capital. What better way to prepare than in advance by loading up DC with military, national guard, FBI, and tons of other resources under direct federal control, that might otherwise seem like overkill to handle a few mobs of unruly teenage gangsters?

Again, more at the link.

Finally, several commenters have pointed out that Washington D.C. isn't a state, and isn't under a state's constitutional authority.  It's Federal land.  Furthermore, it has its own unique military reserve unit, the District of Columbia National Guard, which operates under a unique legal framework:

Normally, U.S. federal law specifically charges the U.S. National Guard with dual federal and state missions.[citation needed] As a federal district, the District of Columbia has a mayor but no governor, and federal law makes the president the commander-in-chief.

Supervision and control of D.C. National Guard was delegated by the president to the defense secretary pursuant to Executive Order 10030, 26 January 1949 with authority to designate National Military Establishment officials to administer affairs of the D.C. National Guard. The Army secretary was directed to act in all matters pertaining to the ground component, and the Air Force secretary was directed to act in all matters pertaining to the air component.

The D.C. National Guard is the only U.S. military force empowered to carry out federal functions in a state or, in this case, a district. Those functions range from limited actions during non-emergency situations to full scale law enforcement of martial law when local law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control. The National Guard may be called into federal service in response to a call by the president.

That means the President and the Secretary of Defense can legally use military forces to augment federal law enforcement resources in restoring law and order in Washington D.C.  The restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act do not apply.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

Peter