Attorney General Pam Bondi may have stumbled in a big way with her first move after President Donald Trump federalized Washington, D.C.’s police force. Conservative lawyer George Conway says Bondi’s decision to install the Drug Enforcement Agency’s director as the new police chief could violate the very law that gave her the authority to take over.
Conway broke it down on The Bulwark’s podcast with Jonathan V. Last. “It was just incompetence on her part to have issued that order to begin with,” he said. According to him, the order didn’t line up with the statute and opened the door for D.C. lawmakers to fight back in court. And that’s exactly what they did.
Now, a federal judge is weighing whether to issue a Temporary Restraining Order to block the federal takeover altogether. Conway explained that the judge first wants to see if both sides can work out some kind of resolution, but he didn’t hold back on how he sees the Justice Department’s handling of things. “It was a major misstep by the Justice Department. Really incompetent lawyering, I think, and just overreaching,” he said.
The situation could also throw a wrench into Trump’s broader plans for policing in the nation’s capital. If Bondi’s order is ruled out of bounds, it undercuts the foundation of the entire takeover. Conway suggested it’s such a serious blunder that Bondi has little choice but to backtrack. “The Bondi order is so egregiously inconsistent with the statute and inconsistent with the executive order frankly, that you know there was a misstep by Bondi and she has to cave,” Conway said.
The lawsuit from D.C. lawmakers highlights the stakes. If the judge blocks the takeover, the federal government would lose the control it just asserted, and Bondi’s very first step as attorney general in this high-profile move would be remembered for undermining the entire effort.
For Trump, who has made law and order a central theme, the optics are especially damaging. A shaky legal footing for the federalization of the police force could complicate how he tries to present his authority over the city’s law enforcement going forward. Conway’s remarks suggest the Justice Department’s actions have not just legal consequences but political ones too.
While the next moves depend on whether the court grants that restraining order or the parties strike a deal, one thing is clear. A legal technicality may have already weakened what was supposed to be a show of federal strength. And critics like Conway aren’t letting Bondi off the hook.