Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia

The order declares that special emergency conditions exist in the District of Columbia requiring the Metropolitan Police Department — DC's local police force — to serve federal purposes, including maintaining law and order, protecting federal buildings and monuments, and ensuring the orderly functioning of the federal government. It directs the Mayor to immediately provide MPD services for the maximum period allowed under section 740 of the DC Home Rule Act, and delegates the President's authority to direct the Mayor under that statute to the Attorney General, who may determine what police services to deploy and how.

The Attorney General must monitor conditions in DC, consult with appropriate senior officials, and regularly update the President on whether the emergency conditions persist or change. The AG must also notify the President of any circumstances suggesting a need for further presidential action — or that the order's authority is no longer necessary. A severability clause is included, and the order creates no new enforceable individual rights or benefits.

DC residents, tourists, and federal workers in the capital whose safety is cited as the basis for the emergency; the Mayor of the District of Columbia and the Metropolitan Police Department, who must now respond to Attorney General direction; and federal agencies whose operations in DC are directly affected.

The Attorney General gains immediate authority to direct how DC's local police force is deployed for federal purposes, shifting operational control from local elected officials to a presidentially appointed federal officer — a significant change in who governs policing in the nation's capital.

The order works through a statutory chain in the DC Home Rule Act: the President can order the DC Mayor to provide MPD services during an emergency, and here that authority is immediately passed down to the Attorney General. The Mayor must comply with the AG's directives on police deployment. There is no set expiration; the order continues until the President determines the emergency has ended. The AG serves as the ongoing monitor, required to flag whether conditions escalate or resolve, and the Department of Justice bears publication costs.