The city’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit calling for an emergency restraining order to block the move, accusing the Trump Administration of implementing a “hostile takeover” of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) that would lead to “imminent, irreparable harm”.

The moves come as federal agents and National Guard troops have begun to appear across the heavily Democratic city after President Trump's executive order earlier this week.

The National Guard presence in D.C. is set to increase in the coming days after the governors of some Republican states deployed troops to the capital.

The Republican governors of West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio announced Saturday they will send National Guard troops to Washington, DC, in an escalation of President Donald Trump’s efforts to federally take over law enforcement in the city.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Saturday that he is sending 300-400 National Guard members from the state to Washington, D.C., to support President Donald Trump's efforts to combat crime. Morrisey said he was requested to do so by the Trump administration.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump deployed 800 National Guard troops to the streets of Washington, DC, a rare flex of his presidential authority over the military while a court mulls the legality of his prior order sending troops to Los Angeles.

White House official says to expect "significantly higher National Guard presence” in Washington, D.C. Wednesday evening.

West Virginia is sending 300 to 400 members of its National Guard to the nation’s capital to assist in the Trump administration’s takeover of the city’s police department.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he will seek more permanent federal control of the Washington, D.C., police force as he continues his efforts to ramp-up crime enforcement in the nation's capital.