WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 14: Members of the National Guard walk on the National Mall on August 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation's capital. Credit - Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images The White House has backed off plans for afull takeover of the D.C. policeforce and will allow for the city's police chief to remain in charge after a judge indicated they would block the move. President Donald Trump this weekinvoked emergency powersto take control of the D.C. police department and call in the National Guard to a city that he claimed is overrun by "bloodshed, bedlam and squalor"—a claim that is disputed by experts. Read More:Trump Paints a Picture of D.C. as a Crime-Ridden Hell-Hole. Here Are the Facts As part of the federal takeover,Attorney General Pam Bondiappointed Drug and Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Terrance C. Cole as "Emergency Police Commissioner." The city's Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit calling for anemergency restraining orderto block the move, accusing the Trump Administration of implementing a "hostile takeover" of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) that would lead to "imminent, irreparable harm". "In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive," Smith wrote in the lawsuit Judge Ana Reyes said in a Friday hearing that, according to theHome Rule Act, the Department of Justice needed to rewrite the section of the executive order that placed Cole in charge, and that he needed to go through the city's mayor. Reyes stopped short of issuing a restraining order, but indicated that if the DOJ did not rewrite the section, she would. Read More:Trump Took Over the D.C. Police. He Can't Do It In Other Cities, Legal Experts Say "The statute [The Home Rule Act] would have no meaning at all if the president could just say 'we're taking over your police department,'" Reyes said. In a press conference after the hearing, Schwalb touted the result as a "very important win for Home Rule today." A new directive by Bondi following the lawsuit allowed for Chief Pamela Smith to remain in charge of the force, though the city will still be under the Administration's control, and orders will be sent through the city's Mayor Muriel Bowser. The Trump Administration will still essentially have control over the city, but Smith will maintain control of the day-to-day operations of the MPD. In Bondi's new directive, though, she alsorequired MPD to complywith the Trump Administration's aggressive immigration tactics, rescinding two police practices that limited MPD's immigration enforcement—also known as"sanctuary policies." D.C's At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson reacted on X that, "Respectfully, the Attorney General does not have the authority to revoke laws." In the first week alone of the Trump Administration's federal takeover,nearly 200 arrestshave been reported in the city, including manyundocumented immigrants, which has alarmed civil rights groups. Contact usatletters@time.com.