Leading Washington, D.C. Democrats are fiercely opposing a wave of legislation aimed at increasing federal control over the District, just as President Donald Trump’s 30-day crime emergency order is set to expire.
The House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-KY), began markups on Wednesday on 13 proposed bills under the “Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful Again” initiative. The package includes measures that override local criminal justice reforms, centralize authority over D.C.’s police and courts, and make the District’s attorney general a presidential appointee rather than an elected official.
LIVE! Chairman @RepJamesComer leads the committee markup tackling crime and other issues in Washington. Let's Make DC Safe and Beautiful Again!
https://t.co/6rZ5kGO9fP
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 10, 2025
“Crime in the District of Columbia has reached levels unseen since the violent era of the early 1990s,” Comer said. “Today, this Committee will exercise its constitutional authority to reinforce President Trump’s efforts to make D.C. safe again.”
D.C. leaders are slamming the legislation as a direct attack on local autonomy and democratic representation.
“All of them would be an affront to Home Rule,” said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at an event Monday in Northeast Washington. “We believe that our laws affecting the District should be made by the District.”
Bowser sent a letter to the House Oversight Committee urging it to reject the proposals, which she considered would make the District “less democratic.”
MAYOR BOWSER sent this letter to the House Oversight Cmt today on the DC bills it’s marking up
She says the bill to abolish the DC judicial noms commission would make DC “less democratic” pic.twitter.com/N6PmqtQOUY
— Courtney Bublé (@courtneybuble) September 10, 2025
She specifically criticized a bill that would make the D.C. attorney general appointed by the president rather than elected by residents, calling it a fundamental erosion of local self-governance.
The House’s consideration of the bills comes just as Trump’s emergency declaration over D.C. crime, issued on August 11, is set to expire at midnight Wednesday. The order allowed Trump to temporarily federalize the District’s law enforcement resources and direct the Metropolitan Police Department through federal channels.
Hundreds of arrests were made during the surge of federal law enforcement, and the White House claimed the action helped reduce violent crime.
Bowser said she plans to speak more later in the week about what will happen next, but she reiterated her stance: “We believe in Home Rule. Period.”
Critics say the bills amount to a federal takeover of D.C.’s criminal justice system, despite the city already cooperating with federal agencies on crime.
Today's House Oversight Committee markup will hurt public safety and is a direct affront to the District's autonomy. Lawmakers who have not been elected by DC residents and have slim knowledge of DC laws have NO place trying to legislate for us. These bills are WRONG for DC! pic.twitter.com/l4dYzLiePX
— Phil Mendelson (@ChmnMendelson) September 10, 2025
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson called the bills “a direct affront to the District’s autonomy.”
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“Lawmakers who have not been elected by D.C. residents and have slim knowledge of D.C. laws have NO place trying to legislate for us,” Mendelson said on X. “These bills are WRONG for D.C.!”
Even if the measures pass out of committee and win approval in the Republican-controlled House, their future in the Senate remains uncertain.
