"The oversight comes after The Post reported on the agency’s push to double in size and become “the premier law enforcement agency in D.C.”"
"Democratic senators are demanding the U.S. Park Police suspend their D.C. recruitment blitz and accuse the Trump administration of “hijacking this federal police force for its own authoritarian purposes,” according to a letter sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Monday morning.
The calls come after The Washington Post reported in October that the force is seeking to double its ranks in the nation’s capital over the next six months with a goal of becoming “the premier law enforcement agency in D.C.” — keeping the city safe “regardless of inaction” by the local police department and local elected officials, records show.
“The administration is on a deliberate hiring spree to exploit the U.S. Park Police’s jurisdiction and turn it into a tool of the President for him and his ideological extremists to impose their will on the streets of D.C.,” reads the letter. The lead author was Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Interior Department, within which the Park Police belongs."
Olivia George reports for the Washington Post December 9, 2025.
Advertisement 
