in effect
Executive Order 14339, signed August 25, 2025, is a follow-up to a crime emergency declaration the President issued for Washington, D.C. two weeks earlier (EO 14333). It directs several federal agencies to take specific staffing, enforcement, and oversight actions to increase public safety in the capital.
The National Park Service must hire additional U.S. Park Police officers for D.C., and the U.S. Attorney for D.C. must hire additional prosecutors focused on violent and property crimes. A new online portal will be created for people with law enforcement backgrounds to apply to join federal law enforcement units in D.C., and each agency on the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force must build and train a dedicated public-safety unit that could also be deployed to other cities. The Secretary of Defense must create a specialized D.C. National Guard unit for public safety and also ensure every state’s National Guard is trained and ready for rapid deployment to assist with civil disturbances nationwide. HUD must investigate whether the D.C. Housing Authority and local landlords are meeting crime-prevention requirements in their federal agreements, and the Department of Transportation must inspect federally funded D.C. transit services for conditions that endanger workers. The Attorney General must review Metropolitan Police Department General Orders and formally request that the D.C. Mayor update them to address the declared emergency.
Federal agencies — including the Departments of Defense, Justice, Interior, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation — are directed to take immediate action and absorb new responsibilities. D.C. residents, commuters, and public housing tenants may see increased federal law enforcement presence and new scrutiny of housing and transit conditions. The D.C. city government, including the Mayor and the Metropolitan Police Department, faces a formal federal request to revise its internal policing policies.