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Donald Trump has hit on a reliable second-term policy formula : Declare a crisis, and take advantage of the legal leeway to seize vast, unprecedented powers. That strategy has enabled him to renegotiate global trade deals, imprison and deport people without due process, and deploy the National Guard to Los Angeles.

Now, it’s Washington, D.C.’s time in the barrel , with Trump taking control of the District’s police force (now under the supervision of Attorney General Pam Bondi) and once again deploying the National Guard under the pretense of an emergency. On Monday, the president invoked the 50-year-old District of Columbia Home Rule Act for the first time, cl

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