Overview

• A federal judge barred DEA chief Terry Cole from direct orders over Metropolitan Police officers and confirmed that all instructions must flow through Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration.
• Governors of West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio pledged to send 300–400, 200 and 150 National Guard troops respectively, boosting the force beyond the original 800 members.
• U.S. media report that some incoming units could be armed, though the Pentagon insists weapons remain stored and available only if needed.
• The Trump administration cites the Home Rule Act as authority for directing DC policing, but the city’s legal challenge argues the statute does not permit such a sweeping federal takeover.
• The White House defends the deployment by citing a crime and homelessness emergency even as Justice Department data show violent crime at a 30-year low and critics warn of targeted enforcement against migrants and unhoused people.