“We know, however, as most have heard from the President’s press conference, that he has pride prerogatives in D.C., unlike anywhere else in the country, including his authority given by our home rule charter to require the mayor, to require me to supply services of the Metropolitan Police Department, and he also has control and the ability to deploy the National Guard,” she said. “But let me be clear, as our home rule charter is also clear … [the] President’s Executive Order restates chief Pamela Smith is the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, and its 3,100 members work under her direction, the home rule charter requires the mayor to provide the services of MPD during special conditions of an emergency, and we will follow the law, though there’s a question about the subjectivity of that declaration,” Bowser reluctantly stated. “And while this action today is unsettling and unprecedented, I can’t say that — given some of the rhetoric of the past — that we’re totally surprised,” she said, promising D.C. residents that she is committed to focusing on other things, such as “making sure that we have the judges that we need, including making sure that all federal parks are supported, not just with law enforcement, but with other clean and safe activities, and including making sure that our economy is supported by rational federal actions as it relates to the federal workforce.”
Author: Hannah Knudsen, Hannah Knudsen
Published at: 2025-08-11 21:03:29
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