- President Donald Trump called for a federal government takeover of Washington, D.C. The district has had a partial home rule with Congressional oversight since 1973.
- Republicans introduced a bill to repeal home rule, but it does not have enough support to pass.
- D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is still working to make D.C. the 51st state.
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President Donald Trump called for a federal government takeover of Washington, D.C., which currently has partial home rule with Congressional oversight. The president said the federal government should have direct control over the district, as it did before 1973.
“I think we should run it strong, run it with law and order. Make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful,” the president said.
Who runs Washington?
Washington has had limited autonomy since 1973 when Congress passed the Home Rule Act. This act allowed the district to form a city council and pass legislation while Congress retained the authority to overturn local laws.
Republicans recently introduced a bill to overturn the Home Rule Act. It’s called the “Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident Act’’ or the ‘‘BOWSER Act’’, a direct attack on Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
“The radically progressive regime of D.C. Mayor Bowser has left our nation’s Capital in crime-ridden shambles,” Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., said in a statement. “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.”
“I like the mayor. I get along great with the mayor. But they’re not doing the job,” Trump said. “Too much crime, too much graffiti, too many tents on the lawns of these magnificent lawns and there’s tents. It’s a sad thing. You know, homeless people are all over the place.”
Who wants to change how D.C. is run?
D.C. home rule and statehood are recurring themes on Capitol Hill when power changes from one party to the other. When Republicans are in control, they say local D.C. leaders are failing, and the federal government should run the district. When Democrats are in power, they say D.C. should get full statehood and, in turn, a voting member in the House and two in the Senate.
“We have made significant progress in our historic march toward making D.C. the 51st state, and President Trump’s comments, a continuation of the anti-democratic rhetoric from Republicans concerning the District of Columbia, despite their basis in falsehoods, is evidence of that progress,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said.
Norton is a member of the House of Representatives and sits on multiple committees, but she cannot vote on legislation. She condemned the president’s remarks and the introduction of the Bowser Act.
“These types of remarks are attempts to remove what small measure of democracy the more than 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, have,” Norton added.
Repealing home rule or granting D.C. statehood would require 60 votes in the Senate, and neither has anywhere near enough support to reach that threshold.
