Key Takeaways:
- Trump Takes Charge of D.C. Safety: President Trump invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act, placing the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and deploying the National Guard to combat violent crime and homelessness.
- Schumer Draws a Hard Line: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to “fight tooth and nail” against any congressional extension of Trump’s authority, framing the move as political theater.
- Republicans Rally Behind the Crackdown: GOP leaders like Rep. Byron Donalds are aligning with Trump’s law-and-order push, introducing legislation to address rising crime in the nation’s capital.
Senate Democrats are making it crystal clear — they want no part of President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s police force. On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) flat-out rejected the idea of extending Trump’s 30-day emergency control over the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, calling it “a distraction” and vowing to “fight him tooth and nail.”
Schumer’s comments came on The Parnas Perspective podcast, where he not only opposed Trump’s law-and-order push but bizarrely pivoted to Jeffrey Epstein conspiracies. “He’s afraid of Epstein… and we are not going to give up on Epstein,” Schumer said, in what can only be described as a political non sequitur.
Parnas asked Schumer, “Have you heard, do you think that he’s going to end up going to Congress, because he can’t revoke complete home rule authority for D.C. without actually going to Congress first. He can’t even extend this past 30 days without going to you all first. Have you heard that that’s what he plans on doing, and if he went to Congress and said, “You know what, there’s this crime emergency, we need the National Guard out there longer. We need to take over Washington, DC,” would you grant it?”
“No fucking way. We’ll fight him tooth and nail. And right now, as you said, he can only do it for 30 days or now I guess it’s 26 or 27, whatever. And he needs to get Congress to approve it, and not only are we not going to approve it,” Schumer replied, “but… there are some Republicans who don’t like it either. This is, again, just a distraction. He’s afraid of Epstein, he’s afraid of all that, and we are not going to give up on Epstein.”
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Trump, for his part, isn’t shy about why he’s stepping in. “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people, and we’re not going to let it happen anymore,” he declared. The president invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act, putting the MPD under federal command and deploying the National Guard after a high-profile assault on Edward Coristine, a prominent DOGE member known as “Big Balls.”
Democrats tried to mock Trump on social media with a map circling the White House labeled “home base of criminals.” But Republicans like Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) are backing the crackdown, reintroducing his D.C. CRIMES Act to combat violent crime and homelessness in the capital.
This fight isn’t just about D.C. — it’s about whether America’s seat of power will be run for the safety of its citizens or for the comfort of career politicians. And if Trump’s track record is any indicator, he’s betting on law and order every time.