Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, on Monday called President Trump’s announced takeover of the city’s police force “unsettling and unprecedented” but appeared resigned to cooperate with it, stressing at a news conference that there was little she could do to block the move.
She repeatedly characterized Mr. Trump’s federalization of the city’s police force, under an emergency declaration to combat a crime “crisis” despite falling violent crime rates, as a workable extension of the oftentimes collaborative relationship between federal and local law enforcement entities tasked to the nation’s capital.
Ms. Bowser’s tone was strikingly diplomatic, an approach in keeping with the more muted posture she has adopted toward Mr. Trump during his second term, as compared to more fiery statements during his first term opposing similar threats to the city’s limited autonomy.
The “plain language” of the city’s home rule charter, she explained, authorized the president to declare a public safety emergency and request the city to defer to the directions of the federal government. And, she added, “it says the mayor shall comply with those requests.”
Under the Home Rule Act of 1973, which gave D.C. the power to elect its own local government but left Congress with ultimate power over the city’s laws and budget, Mr. Trump can declare a state of emergency to assert control over local law enforcement for 30 days.
“We have a responsibility to support the executive order and one of the roles I have is to ensure that we work very collaboratively with our federal partners,” she said, later adding: “Our relationship with our federal partners is not new, we do this on a daily basis.”
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