Pct TRACON and dca tower controller reported an unsafe situation involving vip movements.

Attributes
ACN	1449645
Time
Date	201705
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	DCA.Airport
State Reference	DC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Helicopter
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Departure Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 9
Person 2
Function	Other / Unknown
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 10
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

Presidential movements continue to be an issue between dca and pct. Aircraft X was adw inbound to [dc area]. Dca tower called with a 3 minute to lift call off adw which is 7 miles southeast of dca. We begin holding arrivals at that point. We were just beginning an arrival push and approach/final had 15 planes or more. While we were holding airplanes in the sky and backing up ZDC; dca tower continued to release airplanes compounding the issue. A lot of arrivals spinning and more departures entering the NAS is a dangerous game for dca tower to play. Dca tower took it two steps further this movement by launching two departures with aircraft X less than a mile and no altitude; converging. How is it we on approach are not allowed to run arrivals yet they have the authority to release airplanes right at presidential aircraft? Advise dca tower the needs of the TRACON during these movements and educate them on proper coordination. Develop a work group between dca/pct/adw on vip movements.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PCT TRACON and DCA Tower Controller reported an unsafe situation involving VIP movements.

Narrative: Presidential movements continue to be an issue between DCA and PCT. Aircraft X was ADW inbound to [DC Area]. DCA tower called with a 3 minute to lift call off ADW which is 7 miles SE of DCA. We begin holding arrivals at that point. We were just beginning an arrival push and approach/final had 15 planes or more. While we were holding airplanes in the sky and backing up ZDC; DCA tower continued to release airplanes compounding the issue. A lot of arrivals spinning and more departures entering the NAS is a dangerous game for DCA tower to play. DCA tower took it two steps further this movement by launching two departures with Aircraft X less than a mile and no altitude; converging. How is it we on approach are not allowed to run arrivals yet they have the authority to release airplanes right at presidential aircraft? Advise DCA tower the needs of the TRACON during these movements and educate them on proper coordination. Develop a Work group between DCA/PCT/ADW on VIP movements.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.