Here’s the latest:

DC mayor says she was unaware of Trump’s plan to take over city police

Mayor Muriel Bowser says she had “one brief call” with the White House over the weekend about activating the National Guard, so she thought Trump’s announcement would be about calling up the National Guard, not about taking over the Metropolitan Police Department.

GOP lawmaker raises concern over the White House-Nvidia deal

Rep. John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on China, also spoke against the Trump administration’s deal to get a 15% cut in the sales of advanced U.S. chips to China in exchange of export licenses.

“Export controls are a frontline defense in protecting our national security, and we should not set a precedent that incentivizes the government to grant licenses to sell China technology that will enhance its AI capabilities,” said the Republican from Michigan.

Trump confirmed the deal but suggested the chips to be sold to China are “essentially old.” U.S. companies are still banned from selling their most advanced chips to China, which are critical in developing artificial intelligence.

Bowser calls Trump takeover of DC police ‘unsettling’

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday that the city had reached a 30-year low in violent crime. Bowser said that crime was down not just from a post-pandemic peak in 2023, but from 2019 levels prior to the pandemic.

Bowser highlighted the district’s parks, schools and public transportation and said that it was important for those who live and visit here to know “just how beautiful our city is and how proud we are of all that we’ve accomplished here.

Bowser’s comments are a response to President Trump’s announcement of his takeover of D.C. police force. Bowser said that the steps were “unsettling” but not without precedent.

“My message to residents is this,” Bowser said. “We know that access to our democracy is tenuous. That is why you have heard me and many Washingtonians before me advocate for full statehood.”

DC police union backs Trump’s takeover

The union representing DC police officers is backing Trump’s takeover move, though it called for the federal intervention to be temporary.

Union chairman Gregg Pemberton said it agrees with the president that “immediately action is necessary” to tamp down crime.

Still, Pemberton said that the city ultimately needs a police department that’s “fully staffed and supported.”

He also called for the repeal of criminal justice policies and laws passed by the city council.

Maryland governor says Trump mobilizing National Guard in Washington ‘lacks seriousness’

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard in D.C. is also “deeply dangerous.”

Moore, a Democrat who served as a paratrooper and captain in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, said in a statement Monday that the president’s actions lack both data and a battle plan.

“He is simply using honorable men and women as pawns to distract us from his policies, which continue to drive up unemployment and strip away health care and food assistance from those who need it most,” Moore said.

He urged the president to look to Maryland for ways of reducing violent crime. Moore noted that homicides in Maryland are down by more than 20% since Moore’s inauguration in January 2023.

“We await outreach from the White House if they want to have a serious conversation about public safety. But we won’t hold our breath,” he said.

Appeals court rules Trump administration must restore website tracking spending

A federal appeals court has given the Trump administration until Friday to restore a website that tracks spending appropriated by Congress.

In a ruling on Saturday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit refused to block a lower court order requiring the restoration. The court said disclosing the spending information was a “permissible exercise of legislative authority” with roots in the nation’s founding. An email to the Office of Management and Budget on Monday was not immediately returned.