In a Monday morning press conference, President Donald Trump announced new, decisive action to quell crime and violence in the District of Columbia. Flanked by Cabinet officials, the president indicated that he will not only deploy National Guardsmen to the city but also temporarily federalize the D.C. police department (MPD) under an obscure provision of the District’s home rule law.
Trump’s moves follow an assault last week on 19-year-old Edward Coristine, a Department of Government Efficiency software engineer, who was allegedly beaten by a group of 15-year-old assailants during an attempted carjacking. President Trump blamed the attack on soft-on-crime policies and suggested that he is considering reasserting direct federal control over the nation’s capital city. Congressional Republicans, who see the District as a convenient punching bag, eagerly voiced support for more aggressive action, including ending D.C.’s “home rule.”
Ending home rule is both unlikely and probably imprudent. But Congress and the president have many options to consider short of its revocation. From hiring more police officers to appointing a “control board” to run the criminal justice system, history and law present several levers that the Trump administration should consider pulling to improve residents’ lives.
For most of American history, Congress exercised its constitutional prerogative to govern D.C. through standing committees dedicated to overseeing its affairs. In 1871, Congress inaugurated an experiment in home rule but repealed it three years later amid financial mismanagement. Congress then established a three-member commission government, all of whom were appointed by the president. President Lyndon B. Johnson later replaced that commission with a nine-member council and a single commissioner, all appointed by the White House. Finally, in 1973, Congress passed the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, delegating its authority to today’s local government.
This home-rule arrangement grants Congress and the president significant federal oversight powers that, until now, have gone largely unused. Some of these reflect Congress’s final lawmaking authority over the District—such as Congress’s right to review and veto laws passed by the D.C. Council and to approve the budget through annual appropriations legislation.
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Author: Ruth King
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