Congress to face mounting pressure to act on future of D.C.

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch
The Center Square

When Congress reconvenes following the Labor Day holiday, it will likely be pressured to extend Washington, D.C.’s state of emergency and take up legislation on the district’s future.

By law, President Donald Trump can only declare a state of emergency in the district for 30 days without congressional authorization. If he hopes to continue with the deployment of the National Guard, Congress will need to act fast – by Sept. 11. Congress ultimately retains legislative authority over the district.

Trump invoked the D.C. Home Rule Act when he declared a criminal emergency in the district on Aug. 11, calling it “Liberation Day.”

However, the debate over D.C.’s autonomous future began shortly after the president was sworn in to serve his second term.

In early February, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn, introduced companion legislation in the House and Senate titled the Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident Act, or BOWSER Act, named after the district’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The companion legislation currently sits in committee and has not progressed since February.

The lawmakers argue the legislation comes in response to the “mayor and city council’s failure to prevent violent crime, corruption, and voting by non-citizens.”

The District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 was enacted by Congress and ratified by D.C. voters. The act gave district residents limited autonomy over local affairs, allowing them to elect local leaders, including mayors and council members.

Despite gaining some control, ultimately, Congress has the authority to manage the nation’s Capital, according to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution. The president also has the authority to appoint district judges.

Ogles blames Bower’s progressive policies for leading to crime, citing the district’s reputation for violent crimes, prior to Trump’s law enforcement and National Guard surge that has significantly lowered crime.

“The radically progressive regime of D.C. Mayor Bowser has left our nation’s Capital in crime-ridden shambles,” Ogles said in February. “Washington is now known for its homicides, rapes, drug overdoses, violence, theft, and homelessness. Bowser and her corrupt Washington City Council are incapable of managing the city. As such, it seems appropriate for Congress to reclaim its Constitutional authority and restore the nation’s Capital. The epicenter of not only the United States Federal Government but also the world geopolitics cannot continue to be a cesspool of Democrats’ failed policies.”

In the duo’s takedown of the district’s leadership, they cited “a long history of official corruption, federal bribery charges against a council member, armed carjackings, public beatings on public transit, assaults and robberies against congressional staff and members of Congress, soft on crime policies, allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections and regulations causing a high cost of living.

In addition to extending the crime emergency in the district, the president needs Congress’s help changing cashless bail policies and reinstating capital punishment.

Although it hasn’t been discussed, it is possible the president could broker a deal with Bowser and council members to adopt his tough-on-crime supporting policies in exchange for retaining the Home Rule Act.

On Thursday, Bowser held a briefing at which she admitted that the surge in law enforcement has been a success. She noted a nearly 90% reduction in carjackings since the surge began compared to a year ago.

“For carjackings, the difference between this period, this 20-day period of this federal surge and last year represents an 87% reduction in carjackings in Washington, D.C. We know that when carjackings go down, when use of gun goes down, when homicide or robbery go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer. So, this surge has been important to us for that reason,” Bowser told reporters.

Since Aug. 11, the D.C. Police Union has calculated major decreases in crimes, including 83% drops in carjackings, 46% decreases in robberies, 22% drops in violent crime, 21% decreases in car theft, and 6% drops in property crime. The group adds that there has been an 8% reduction in crime overall.

The mayor credited the surge for increasing “perceived accountability” as a preventive measure in tackling the crime crisis.

“Having more federal law enforcement officers on the street – we think having more stops that got to illegal guns has helped. We think that there is more accountability in the system, or at least perceived accountability in the system, that is driving down illegal behavior. We know that we have had fewer gun crimes, fewer homicides, and we have experienced an extreme reduction in carjackings,” the mayor added.

In addition to Bowser’s acknowledgement of the surge working, a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Monday shows that 54% of voters support Trump’s actions in D.C., considering them “justified and necessary,” including 28% of Democrats and 47% of independents.

Despite the success the president is experiencing from the surge, Democrats remain defiant of the crackdown and deployment of the National Guard, which could pose a challenge for Republicans in favor of rescinding the Home Rule Act, with the GOP holding a slim majority in the House.

Instead, Democrats have gone on the offensive, pushing for D.C. statehood. In January, 41 Senate Democrats introduced legislation to establish statehood for the district.

“Virginia’s neighbors in D.C. don’t have the same representation in Congress as other states and are unfairly subjected to taxation without representation – a denial of political freedom that defies the ideological framework upon which our Founding Fathers established this nation. We are proud to support this legislation to recognize D.C. as the 51st state,” the senators argued in January.

One of the president’s ardent critics in the Senate, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., has been pushing for D.C. statehood while chastising the law enforcement surge.

“Trump’s authoritarian takeover of DC isn’t making anyone safer. You know what it IS doing? Pulling FBI agents & other federal officers away from critical law enforcement & counterterrorism duties nationwide. Taxpayers are funding a Trump stunt that is making us all LESS safe,” Van Hollen posted on X.

“House Republicans are once again treating D.C.’s 700,000 residents like political pawns. Keep your hands OFF D.C. This is why we need to pass my D.C. statehood bill with [Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.],” Van Hollen wrote in a separate post.

The Senate legislation, as well as a House companion bill, also remain in committee.