Executive Order No. 14333. Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia

• Executive Order No.: 14333
• Published date: 14 August 2025
• Citation: 90 FR 39301
• Date: 11 August 2025
• Section: Presidential Documents

Presidential Documents

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Federal Register

Vol. 90, No. 155

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Title 3—

The President

Executive Order 14333 of August 11, 2025

Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the

laws of the United States of America, including section 740 of the District

of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act (Public

Law 93–198), as amended (section 740 of the Home Rule Act), and section

301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Crime is out of control in the District of Columbia. Washington,

District of Columbia, is our Nation’s capital and home to the central institu-

tions of American governance. Yet rising violence in the capital now urgently

endangers public servants, citizens, and tourists, disrupts safe and secure

transportation and the proper functioning of the Federal Government, and

forces the diversion of critical public resources toward emergency response

and security measures. The city government’s failure to maintain public

order and safety has had a dire impact on the Federal Government’s ability

to operate efficiently to address the Nation’s broader interests without fear

of our workers being subjected to rampant violence.

The increase in violent crime in the heart of our Republic has consequences

beyond the individual tragedies that have dominated media coverage. Such

lawlessness also poses intolerable risks to the vital Federal functions that

take place in the District of Columbia. Violence and crime hamper the

recruitment and retention of essential Federal employees, undermine critical

functions of Government and thus the well-being of the entire Nation, and

erode confidence in the strength of the United States. These conditions

are disgraceful anywhere, but particularly in the capital of our Nation and

the seat of the Federal Government. Citizens, tourists, and Federal workers

deserve peace and security, not fear and violence. The smooth functioning

of executive departments and agencies, courts, diplomatic missions, and

the Federal Government demands an effective law-enforcement mechanism

capable of halting the precipitous rise in violent crime, not one that permits

Government workers to be violently attacked by mobs or fatally shot close

to the Federal buildings where they work.

The magnitude of the violent crime crisis places the District of Columbia

among the most violent jurisdictions in the United States. In 2024, the

District of Columbia averaged one of the highest robbery and murder rates

of large cities nationwide. Indeed, the District of Columbia now has a higher

violent crime, murder, and robbery rate than all 50 States, recording a

homicide rate in 2024 of 27.54 per 100,000 residents. It also experienced

the Nation’s highest vehicle theft rate with 842.4 thefts per 100,000 resi-

dents—over three times the national average of 250.2 thefts per 100,000

residents. The District of Columbia is, by some measures, among the top

20 percent of the most dangerous cities in the world.

As President, I have a solemn duty to take care that our laws are faithfully

executed, and a sacred responsibility to protect the safety and security

of United States citizens who live in and visit our Nation’s capital, including

Federal workers who live or commute into the District of Columbia. These

conditions cannot persist. We will make the District of Columbia one of

the safest cities in the world, not the most dangerous.

Sec. 2. Services of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of

Columbia. I determine that special conditions of an emergency nature exist

that require the use of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District

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of Columbia (Metropolitan Police force) for Federal purposes, including main-

taining law and order in the Nation’s seat of Government; protecting Federal

buildings, national monuments, and other Federal property; and ensuring

conditions necessary for the orderly functioning of the Federal Government.

Effective immediately, the Mayor of the District of Columbia (Mayor) shall

provide the services of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes

for the maximum period permitted under section 740 of the Home Rule

Act.

Sec. 3. Operational Control of the Metropolitan Police Department of the

District of Columbia. (a) The authority of the President conferred by section

740(a) of the Home Rule Act to direct the Mayor with respect to the current

special conditions of an emergency nature is delegated to the Attorney

General.

(b) In accordance with section 740(a) of the Home Rule Act, the Mayor

shall provide such services of the Metropolitan Police force as the Attorney

General may deem necessary and appropriate.

Sec. 4. Monitoring and Recommendations. (a) The Attorney General shall

monitor and regularly consult with any senior official the Attorney General

deems appropriate on the special conditions of an emergency nature that

exist in the District of Columbia that require the use of the Metropolitan

Police force for Federal purposes.

(b) The Attorney General shall regularly update me on the status of the

special conditions of an emergency nature that exist in the District of Colum-

bia that require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes.

(c) The Attorney General shall inform me of any circumstances that,

in the Attorney General’s opinion, might indicate the need for further action

by the President or that the action in this order is no longer necessary.

Sec. 5. Severability. If any provision of this order, or the application of

any provision to any individual or circumstance, is held to be invalid,

the remainder of this order and the application of its other provisions

to any other individuals or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed

to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency,

or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and

subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit,

substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party

against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers,

employees, or agents, or any other person.

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(d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department

of Justice.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

August 11, 2025.

[FR Doc. 2025–15550

Filed 8–13–25; 11:15 am]

Billing code 4410–CW–P

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