President Trump has used a declared emergency to assume control of the Washington, D.C., police force and deploy the National Guard as part of what he describes as a national effort to address crime. He has also announced plans to remove the homeless population from the city and threatened similar actions in other major cities, including Chicago and New York.
Trump claims that Democratic leaders' policies are not strict enough on crime. However, FBI data indicates that violent crime in the United States decreased by an estimated 4.5% in 2024 compared to 2023 (https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-2024-crime-statistics).
Paul Gowder, professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, commented on the legal and constitutional implications of federal intervention in local law enforcement. “The whole point of the system of state control of local law enforcement and of state militias is as a check against federal abuse of power. This has been true since the founding of the United States, and the only alteration to this system of divided power was after the Civil War,” said Gowder. “Now Donald Trump’s authoritarian impulses are turning this basic constitutional presupposition of our federal system of government on its head. This is yet another way in which the current president has betrayed the basic constitutional structure of the United States and yet another ground for impeachment by any Congress that would be faithful to that structure.”
Gowder further stated: “The technical legalities of federal interference with state law enforcement are less important than its fundamental challenge to our constitutional system of government. The whole point of the system of state control of local law enforcement and of state militias is as a check against federal abuse of power. This has been true since the founding of the United States, and the only alteration to this system of divided power was after the Civil War, when the federal government was given the authority by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to intervene directly in state governance to purge the taint of the system of slavery from our nation. Since then, the only time that the federal government has used military force to overturn the autonomy of state governments over local law enforcement was yet again in order to further purge the taint of slavery by enforcing desegregation at the end of the Jim Crow period.
“Now Donald Trump’s authoritarian impulses are turning this basic constitutional presupposition of our federal system of government on its head. Federal control over military power is being abused to support a system of due process-free, snatch-and-grab immigration ‘enforcement’ against state opposition that bears a shocking resemblance to the conflicts over the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, to suppress lawful protest that is protected by the First Amendment, and to take over criminal jurisdiction from localities on the pretext of racist stereotypes about urban criminality. This is yet another way in which the current president has betrayed the basic constitutional structure of the United States and yet another ground for impeachment by any Congress that would be faithful to that structure.”
Ronald Allen, John Henry Wigmore Professor at Northwestern Law who specializes in evidence, criminal procedure, and constitutional law, was noted as unavailable for comment on August 14th and 15th.
Daniel Rodriguez, Harold Washington Professor at Northwestern Law whose work covers administrative law among other topics, is available for comment regarding Trump's statements about addressing homelessness in Washington.
For more information or expert commentary from these professors, contact Shanice Harris at shanice.harris@northwestern.edu.