What Just Happened: Federalization of Law Enforcement in Washington DC

This week, the Trump administration took over command of the D.C. police department, and surged federal law enforcement officers and National Guard units into the city. While the United States has a long tradition of leaving most policing to state and local agencies, federal law enforcement has specific powers, and there are well-established limits on the use of military forces for domestic law enforcement, but the rules for DC are particular.

In this episode, host David Aaron is joined by Carrie Cordero, General Counsel at the Center for a New American Security and former Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and Senior Associate General Counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Donell Harvin, Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University and former Chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence for the District of Columbia. Together, they unpack significant legal and policy considerations concerning the Executive Branch’s recent actions and the open questions still in play.

Show Notes:

• Center for a New American Security, The 21st Century National Guard: Expanding Missions, Modernizing Authorities
• Just Security’s Federalization of DC Policing, Law Enforcement and National Security Archives