Trump is fine with letting his DC police takeover lapse, White House officials say
Passengers are reflected on glass as police officers patrol the Anacostia bus station in Washington
By Alayna Treene, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump doesn’t mind letting his 30-day takeover of Washington, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department lapse on Wednesday, White House officials tell CNN — mainly because he feels the city has taken steps to cooperate regardless.
Those officials argued that the executive order signed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser last week — which calls for indefinite collaboration with federal law enforcement — achieves their goals without an extension that would typically require congressional approval.
Trump has previously vowed to push lawmakers to approve his continued federalization of the DC police force. But after Bowser’s order, the officials said he has abandoned plans to pressure GOP lawmakers to take up such a bill, which would have required some Democratic support in the Senate.
“She committed to indefinitely coordinate with federal law enforcement,” one of the officials said. “The key word is indefinitely. That is what we want.”
The White House has discussed its revised plans with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the officials said. Johnson previously said the House would not vote to extend the crime emergency that allowed the temporary federalization of MPD, even as House Republican lawmakers take up other bills focused on DC crime and self-governance this week.
“I’m not sure Congress has any necessity to do anything,” Johnson said Monday.
Bowser, for her part, has argued that Washington doesn’t need a “federal emergency” and disagreed with White House officials’ characterization of her executive order. She said it’s meant to be a pathway out of the federal takeover, and that it laid out “a framework for how we will exit the emergency. The emergency ends on September 10. The only way it can be extended legally is by the Congress.”
Questions remain about how long the president plans to keep National Guard troops on the streets of DC. National Guard presence in the city is not subject to the same strict time constraints under federal law.
CNN reported last week that the National Guard troops deployed in Washington were expected to have their military orders extended through December.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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