Justice, crime and public safety

Executive Order 14339: Additional Measures To Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia

President: Donald J. Trump

Directed federal hiring, specialized units, National Guard readiness, transit review and requests for MPD policy changes.

Status: Completed/expired. Is Executive Order 14339 still in effect? No. Executive Order 14339 is completed or expired. See Federal Register record.

Illustration of a federal order, justice symbols and District of Columbia landmarks
A conceptual D.C. public-safety scene, not a completed prosecution, court ruling or proof of the administration's factual claims. EO Explained · site-generated editorial illustration · not documentary evidence.

What does Executive Order 14339 do?

The action operated within the District’s Home Rule Act framework and existing agency authority; it did not itself amend the D.C. Code. Section 740 permits presidential direction of Metropolitan Police services for an emergency period of no more than 30 days unless Congress enacts a joint resolution extending it.

Administration position: The order’s crime descriptions and causal claims are administration findings. Crime trends, release outcomes and the legality of particular policing or funding actions require separate evidence and authority.

Reading the operative provisions of Executive Order 14339

EO 14339 added federal measures during the District of Columbia crime emergency, including federal hiring, specialized coordination, National Guard readiness and requests for changes to MPD policy. The Federal Register text sets out the specific assignments. The order’s emergency measures have expired or completed their time-limited work; they are not permanent federal control over local policing.

The order operates against the background of the Home Rule Act and the earlier emergency declaration. Federal agencies can protect federal property and perform federal law-enforcement duties, but the Metropolitan Police Department remains a District agency. Requests for local policy changes are not the same as a binding amendment to District law. Any deployment or operation must identify the authority, the mission and the limits on use of force and detention.

National Guard readiness is distinct from an actual deployment. A readiness instruction can prepare personnel for a possible mission without putting them on the streets. Similarly, hiring or creating a specialized federal unit takes time and does not establish the unit’s operational results. To understand what occurred, check deployment orders, staffing data, MPD directives and the expiration dates of the emergency measures. This separates completed emergency actions from ongoing local public-safety policy.

SignedAugust 25, 2025
Lead officialAttorney General
MPD emergency ceiling30 days absent congressional extension

Before and after

Before the order

The elected District government administered MPD and local criminal-justice policy under the Home Rule Act and D.C. Code.

Federal law-enforcement agencies retained their own jurisdiction and authorities.

After the order

The order expanded federal agency activity but made each action subject to appropriations and applicable law.

Any lasting hiring, grant, deployment, prosecution or policy change depends on its own legal authority and implementation, not the emergency declaration alone.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Park Service and U.S. AttorneyHire additional police and prosecutorsSubject to appropriations
Federal law-enforcement agenciesDevelop specialized public-safety unitsAs directed
Defense SecretaryImprove National Guard readiness for lawful civil-disturbance supportImmediate and ongoing

What happened next

EO 14339 signed.

The section 740 emergency-control period ran, absent a congressional extension.

Statutory duration and official implementation record rechecked.