President Donald Trump this week invoked emergency powers under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to place Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department under federal authority, dispatching about 800 National Guard troops and directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to oversee the effort. Bondi on Thursday named Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole “emergency police commissioner,” a move that would have displaced Police Chief Pamela Smith and required departmental orders to receive federal approval. District officials immediately pushed back. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the action unprecedented, while D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed suit alleging the order violated home-rule protections. The dispute went before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes on Friday. Facing the prospect of a temporary restraining order, Justice Department lawyers negotiated a compromise that keeps Smith in command of the force and requires Cole to channel any federal directives through the mayor’s office rather than issuing them directly to officers. The agreement, announced in court on 16 August, leaves in place Bondi’s directive that city police cooperate fully with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, overriding local sanctuary policies. Federal operations continued across the capital; Bondi said nearly 200 people had been arrested since the takeover began, including 75 immigration cases. Protests over the heightened federal presence flared near Union Station, and further hearings are scheduled next week to test whether an ongoing emergency justifies extending federal control beyond the Home Rule Act’s 30-day limit.