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President Donald Trump’s show of force in DC has a likely expiration date.
Under current law, the president can only control the city’s police force for 30 days unless the House and Senate authorize an extension. Democrats are already preparing to thwart any Republican attempt to do that — and the numbers are on their side.
It’s not even clear that Trump wants to push beyond his current limit. A White House official told Semafor the operation is “currently expected to last 30 days,” noting it’s “subject to change” and any potential extension is dependent on “how the operation progresses.”
No matter what he does, Senate Democrats have the power to filibuster most legislation. Some are already pledging to block any extension of Trump’s DC takeover.
“This is not only drastic executive overreach but the latest marker in how far this president is willing to go to attack our democracy,” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., told Semafor. “I will do everything in my power to block any effort to extend the 30 days.”
“What Donald Trump is doing is, in some ways, a dress rehearsal for going after others around the country. And I think we need to stop this — certainly by the end of the 30 days,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told Semafor. “This should never have started, so I definitely want to make sure it doesn’t continue.”
Even if Trump’s authority over the police expires, he could keep the hundreds of National Guard troops he deployed to DC to help with policing. But he’ll face higher hurdles acting on his interest in expanding use of the military on the ground in other blue cities.
He said Monday that he would explore taking similar action in places like New York and Chicago, which he called “a disaster.”
But Democrats in the states Trump mentioned quickly pointed out that he does not have the same legal authorities there that he has in the capital, limiting his ability to act other than deploying National Guard troops. One person familiar with the situation told Semafor that the administration has no current plans to extend a DC-style presence into other cities.
On top of that, a federal judge in California is hearing arguments in Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s challenge to Trump’s June deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles during protests against his deportation policies. The ruling in that case could further limit Trump’s ability to use the military domestically.
Quite a few members of Trump’s party are still interested in replicating his push into DC, which he rolled out in a bid to bring down crime after a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer was assaulted.
“Hopefully what every other blue-city mayor will do is look at what Trump’s doing here — and change,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told reporters Tuesday.
“The first thing I say to everybody, when they’re coming to DC, I said, ‘You better think about where you’re staying. You got to think about every street you’re on. You got to think about [how] you can’t be out at night,’” Scott added. “Hopefully that’ll change.”
While DC’s violent crime rate has dropped this year and last year since a rise in 2023, Trump and his allies point to the city’s markedly high homicide rate relative to other capitals worldwide.
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Democrats are exploring still more ways to proactively hit back at Trump’s power play in DC. Their top member on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, plans to introduce a resolution that would end Trump’s state of emergency.
Van Hollen told Semafor he’s “exploring” introducing a similar resolution in the Senate. He also plans to reintroduce a proposal alongside the city’s non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, that would amend the Home Rule Act to block presidents from taking control of the Metropolitan Police Department.
“Obviously, given the fact that Republicans in the Congress have become a rubber stamp for Donald Trump, it’s got a challenging path in the immediate term, but we will keep pushing,” Van Hollen said.
A spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that “all options are on the table to fight back this historic overreach.”
The party is also leaning on the House GOP to take up Senate-passed legislation that would shake loose more than $1 billion that Congress cut from DC’s budget earlier this year. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that Trump still wants lawmakers to advance the proposal, which stalled amid pushback from conservatives.
“He put out a statement calling on the House to take up the Senate’s legislation, and he stands by that position,” Leavitt said.
While DC Mayor Muriel Bowser called Trump’s takeover “unsettling and unprecedented,” the city’s police union said it “welcomes” the announcement — though it called for additional resources.
“The federal intervention is a critical stopgap, but the MPD needs proper staffing and support to thrive,” union chief Gregg Pemberton said.
Meanwhile, Republicans have their own tools to keep talking about crime in DC, even if Trump’s police authority expires in mid-September. House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said he plans to summon DC officials to a hearing next month as the panel looks to advance “legislative solutions to protect Americans in their capital city.”
“When you see [crime] happen on a regular basis — why would I want to come to DC? And DC is supposed to represent our country and American greatness,” Virginia Republican Rep. John McGuire, a former Navy SEAL who serves on the House Oversight Committee, told reporters Tuesday.
“So I totally support it.”
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The Trump administration is reviewing plans for a “reaction force” of National Guard troops that could deploy into US cities at short notice, The Washington Post reports.
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Trump’s DC move is part of a broader push to wield the military and law enforcement more at home and abroad, as Semafor reported on Monday.
