American Oversight Sues for Records on Trump’s Federal Power Grab Targeting D.C. and Immigrant Communities
American Oversight demands transparency on Trump’s politicized use of federal power – from immigration enforcement to the unprecedented federalization of D.C. Police.
Monday, American Oversight filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service for failing to expedite the release of records related to President Trump’s unprecedented federal power grab targeting the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C. (MPD) — part of the Trump administration’s escalating anti-immigrant agenda.
Despite federal data showing that crime in D.C. had fallen to a 30-year low, President Trump issued an executive order earlier this month declaring a “crime emergency” and, for the first time in history, invoked Section 740 of the Home Rule Act to place MPD under the authority of the U.S. Attorney General. The President also announced plans to deploy more than 800 National Guard troops to the city — the second time in just three months that he has unilaterally sent military forces into a local U.S. community.
“President Trump’s federal takeover of D.C.’s police force is not only unnecessary — it is unprecedented and dangerous. The public has a right to know why this White House is trampling on home rule and deploying the Guard into another American city,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “By stonewalling the release of records, the administration confirms that this isn’t about public safety at all — it’s about consolidating power and advancing a nativist, anti-immigrant agenda, and laying the groundwork for complete authoritarian control.”
Earlier this summer, President Trump deployed the Guard to Los Angeles to crack down on immigration protests, part of a broader strategy of using federal power to intimidate immigrant communities override local authority, and punish cities he views as “the core of the Democrat Power Center.” He has also openly signaled that what he is attempting in D.C. could be replicated in other cities with large immigrant populations — a warning that his crackdown on immigration and his assault on local control are deeply intertwined.
American Oversight submitted multiple Freedom of Information Act requests on August 12 seeking the expedited release of records related to the takeover, including communications of the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force,” documents regarding the forced removal of homeless encampments, and correspondence between federal officials and the District government. The Department of the Interior and the National Park Service denied or ignored requests for expedited processing, despite widespread public concern and extensive media coverage of the president’s actions.
The lawsuit asks the court to order the agencies to grant expedited processing and release the requested records immediately. The federalization of D.C.’s police force and deployment of the National Guard has already drawn legal challenges, with the District’s attorney general calling the president’s actions “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful.” Trump has also signaled that he may attempt to expand such measures to other cities led by Democratic officials.