GOP seeks broader federal control of DC police; Democrats have new bill to terminate it

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Congressional Republicans are ramping up a wide range of plans and proposals that seek to extend federal control over D.C. police and the District’s sentencing guidelines.

For all the latest developments in Congress, follow WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller at Today on the Hill.

Congressional Republicans are ramping up a wide range of plans and proposals that seek to extend federal control over D.C. police and the District’s sentencing guidelines, as well as provide resources to improve the appearance of the nation’s capital.

Democratic lawmakers on Friday, meanwhile, announced they are introducing legislation that would terminate federalization of the D.C.’s police department and end what they called a “hostile takeover” of the police force.

“The only emergency here is a lawless president experiencing a growing public relations emergency because of his close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and his stubborn refusal to release the Epstein file despite his promise to do so,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland’s 8th District, referring to the case of the convicted sex offender.

Raskin and D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton are co-sponsors of the measure, which is also backed by the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia.

The joint resolution will be introduced in the upper chamber by U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who has also been critical of the president’s federal takeover of D.C. police

The lawmakers charge that President Donald Trump has created a false narrative about a crime crisis in D.C., pointing to a Justice Department report crime earlier this year that violent crime in D.C. had dropped to a 30-year low.

Their legislation is not expected to advance, given the strong support among Republicans for the president’s crime crackdown.

White House security plan led by Senate Republicans

President Donald Trump has tasked Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama with guiding a White House security package for D.C. through the legislative process.

Graham met this week with the president and Attorney General Pam Bondi to go over priorities for what Graham called the D.C. Security Fund that will provide resources “to improve the safety and quality of life in our nation’s capital.”

Britt also strongly supports the president’s crime crackdown in D.C.

In 2023, one of Britt’s staff members was robbed and carjacked at gunpoint, not far from Capitol Hill. The woman is one of several members of Congress and their staff who have been the victims of similar crimes in recent years.

The cost of the package that Britt and Graham are working on has not been determined, but the president has indicated it would not be a substantial amount.

“What we want to do is make Washington, D.C., the greatest, the most beautiful, safest capital anywhere in the world. And that’s going to happen,” Trump said this week.

GOP lawmakers seek major changes to DC home rule

Republican lawmakers are coalescing behind the president’s anti-crime initiative and are working on their own proposals.

Rep. Andy Ogles, who represents Tennessee’s 5th District, is working on legislation that would allow the president to have control over D.C.’s police department indefinitely.

Currently, Congress needs to approve an extension of federal control of the department if it is to go beyond 30 days.

Ogles’ proposal would amend the D.C. Home Rule Act so that the president “can extend this emergency as long as it takes, until our Capitol is taken back and its streets are safe.”

His legislation has been sharply criticized by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who said in a statement he seems intent on “bullying” the District.

“Rep. Ogles’ bill is another in a series of extreme attacks on D.C. home rule,” Norton said, calling his plan “unacceptable and disgraceful.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to fight “tooth and nail” to prevent the Senate from approving an extension of the president’s control over the D.C. police department. While Democrats are in the minority, they could block approval through a filibuster.

Trump has also suggested he might call a national emergency to get around the congressional approval requirement.

Rep. Byron Donalds, who represents Florida’s 19th District, is reintroducing a bill that would change D.C. law related to the sentencing of juveniles. Current D.C. law allows individuals up to the age of 24 to be treated as juvenile offenders. Donalds’ legislation would lower that age to 18.

The president and Republican lawmakers are also intent on changing no-cash bail in D.C. and other cities, which can allow a criminal defendant to remain free pending trial, on their own recognizance.

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