Summary
- Congress
may extend D.C.’s state of emergency after Labor Day. - Trump
declared a 30-day crisis to control D.C. police. - Extension
needs congressional approval or Trump’s emergency declaration. - Lawmakers
to debate D.C.’s future and federal oversight.
Without congressional approval, President Donald Trump is
legally limited to imposing a 30-day state of emergency in the district.
Congress must move quickly—by September 11—if he intends to keep the National
Guard deployed. In the end, Congress still has legislative power over the
district.
On August 11, Trump proclaimed a criminal emergency in the
district, referring to it as “Liberation Day,” using the D.C. Home
Rule Act.
The Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every
Resident Act, or BOWSER Act, was presented in the House and Senate by U.S.
Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, and Representative Andy Ogles, a
Republican from Tennessee, in early February. The measure was named for the
district’s Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser.
Since February, the companion legislation has not advanced
and is presently in committee.
The MPs claim that the “mayor and city council’s
failure to prevent violent crime, corruption, and voting by non-citizens”
is the reason behind the proposal.
Congress passed and D.C. voters approved
the 1973 District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The act allowed district
inhabitants to elect local officials, such as mayors and council members, and
granted them some degree of authority over local matters.
According to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the U.S.
Constitution, Congress has the power to administer the nation’s capital even
after gaining some control. District judges may also be appointed by the
president.
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.”
The pair used “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” as justifications
for their removal of the district’s leadership.
The president seeks Congress’ assistance to reinstate the
death penalty, change cashless bail laws, and prolong the district’s crime
emergency.
It hasn’t been discussed, but it’s feasible that the
president might work with Bowser and council members to get them to support his
policies that are tough on crime in exchange for keeping 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.
Along with Bowser’s recognition that the surge is effective,
a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released on Monday reveals that 54% of people,
including 28% of Democrats and 47% of independents, support Trump’s actions in
D.C., viewing them as “justified and necessary.”
Democrats continue to oppose the National Guard’s deployment
and crackdown, despite the president’s success with the surge. Given the GOP’s
thin majority in the House, this could present a difficulty for Republicans who
advocate repealing the Home Rule Act.
Rather, Democrats have taken the initiative and are working
to make D.C. a state. Legislation to grant the district statehood was
introduced by 41 Senate Democrats in January.
“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.
Both the House companion bill and the Senate legislation are
still in committee.
How have past Congresses handled extensions of the Home Rule
emergency?
The Home Rule Act allows the president to take control of
the D.C. police department for up to 30 days during an emergency without
congressional approval. Any extension beyond 30 days requires a joint
resolution passed by both the House and Senate to continue the federal takeover
legally.
The law does not specify any exceptions to the 30-day limit,
even during national emergencies, meaning the president cannot unilaterally
extend control beyond this period without Congress. Past emergency extensions
have been rare, and Congress exercises careful oversight, either extending or
terminating the emergency by legislative action.
If Congress refuses to act or rejects an extension, federal
control reverts back to the locally elected government after 30 days.
