Trump’s DC crime emergency ends as House Republicans push sweeping bills

House GOP push sweeping bills as DC crime emergency ends

President Trump?s 30-day crime emergency in the District of Columbia expired at midnight, but the battle over control of the city continues.

WASHINGTON - President Trump’s 30-day crime emergency in the District of Columbia expired at midnight, but the battle over control of the city continues.

House Republicans have introduced a slew of bills aimed at curbing the powers of D.C.’s local government. The package, dubbed the "Home Rule Improvement Act," includes proposals ranging from repealing traffic laws like the city’s ban on right turns at red lights, to replacing the elected attorney general with a presidential appointee.

The House Oversight Committee advanced what some lawmakers are calling the most aggressive federal intervention in D.C. governance in three decades.

Among the measures: expanded pre-trial detention, mandatory minimum sentences, lowering the age to charge juveniles as adults to 14, repealing the Council’s policing reform act, loosening restrictions on police chases, and easing access to concealed carry permits.

Democrats and Republicans clashed for hours over the bills, sparring over the rights of D.C. residents and the limits of congressional authority.

"I would say to the President and his people—why not have a conversation with the people who are being governed here?" said Maryland Democrat Rep. Kweisi Mfume. "They are Americans. They pay taxes. They serve in the military. They do all the things everybody ese can do - except they, in this instance, have to live with your imposition of policy."

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pushed back. "Congress has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia. That’s the reality," she said. "Democrats, you may not like that, but that is the reality. The bills that are being passed here and being - in a public setting - being discussed, and debated, and being voted on are for your safety."

Mayor Muriel Bowser responded in a letter to the committee chair, defending the city’s efforts to reduce crime and warning that the proposed legislation would make D.C. less efficient, less competitive, and less safe.

Bowser, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and Attorney General Brian Schwalb are expected to testify before the committee next week.

The bills must still pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by the president before becoming law.