Donald Trump is being sued by Washington DC's Attorney General after taking control of the capital city's police department.
Friday's lawsuit comes just hours after US Attorney General Pam Bondi expanded Mr Trump's federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department by designating an emergency police commissioner and suspending DC policies, which limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act," DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement.
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"(It is) infringing on the district’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of D.C. residents and visitors at risk."
Mr Schwalb added that the administration's "unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home".
“This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” he said.
The lawsuit named Mr Trump, Ms Bondi, the US Justice Department and other administration officials and agencies.
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A National Guard vehicle is parked near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
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It asked a federal judge to deem the administration's actions unconstitutional, which also violates the city's Home Rule Act.
Homeless encampments were later cleared out by law enforcement officers on Thursday.
It also saw the federal occupation of Washington DC move into a fourth night.
Ms Bondi ordered DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to recognise Head of Drug Enforcement Administration Terry Cole as the city's "emergency" police chief.
Donald Trump declared a "crime emergency" in the capital city
|GETTY
The US Attorney General also ordered the immediate suspension of city policies which limited inquiries into immigration status and prevented arrests solely on federal immigration warrants.
However, Schwalb called Ms Bondi's directives "unlawful".
He said police must "continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the mayor".
Mr Trump invoked an authority which had never been used to seize control of the city's police department for at least 30 days.
The US President deployed the National Guard and sent out federal law enforcement officers to the streets.
Mr Trump declared a "crime emergency" to justify his move, adding the administration must "rescue" the city from "crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor".
He claimed the city had been overrun with "bloodthirsty criminals" along with "roving mos of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people".
However, reports of violent crime in the city have plummeted as well as a national downward trend of violent crime rates.
DC Police Chief Pamela Smith said in a statement that she was not aware of Mr Trump's plan to take control of her department until it was announced in a press conference at the White House.
“In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive,” Ms Smith wrote.
Since being enacted federally in 1973, the Home Rule Act has delegated the city's day-to-day operations to the municipal government, which is run by the mayor's office and city council.