President Donald Trump is pitching a $2 billion plan to repave streets, refurbish infrastructure, and restore order in Washington, D.C., casting it as part of a sweeping crime agenda that remains vague on Capitol Hill, even as House Republicans prepare their own slate of bills targeting the District.
The $2 billion figure first surfaced in Trump’s Aug. 22 remarks, when he said he would ask Congress to fund a beautification campaign within a three-mile radius of the White House and Capitol. Senior White House officials now say the proposal stems from the president’s March executive order, Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful, which created seven interagency working groups on issues from policing to homelessness.
At the same time, the House Oversight Committee is preparing a high-profile Sept. 18 hearing with D.C. leaders and planning to mark up legislation on juvenile crime, truancy, and limits on policing, ensuring the city will remain a central flashpoint when Congress returns.
Trump has also tied the effort to a broader legislative push, which he says is coming. His latest comment came early Wednesday morning, when he posted on Truth Social that he is working with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), and other Republican lawmakers on a “Comprehensive Crime Bill” with “more to follow.”
Trump has told allies the package will be easy to secure. He said last week that he had spoken with Johnson and Thune, adding, “Congress is happy to do it. I think it’s going to be very easy to get. It’s gonna be not a lot of money. It’s gonna be money to beautify the city. They’re ready.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) separately said earlier this month that Trump told him the White House plans to send lawmakers a package expected to be called the D.C. Security Fund.
Senior administration officials have emphasized that the initiative is broader and longer-term than Trump’s campaign-style pitch suggested. “Everyone is asking what’s happening immediately, because of, obviously, the president’s comments,” one official said. “But this is a longer-term project.”
Another official said the $2 billion would be spread across seven areas outlined in the March executive order: immigration enforcement and sanctuary city status, beautification projects, homelessness initiatives, increasing law enforcement presence and enforcing quality-of-life offenses, restoring the District’s crime lab accreditation, revisiting concealed carry permitting requirements, and repairing roadways and parkways under federal control. “This has evolved a lot … the EO that was signed in March, there are multiple working groups that are part of that EO,” the official said.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has offered cautious support, noting that the District has already spent years upgrading local streets, alleys, and tree coverage. “We will be supportive of the president’s $2 billion request to improve infrastructure, especially federal infrastructure in the District,” she said Wednesday. But pressed on whether Trump’s suggested timeline of six months to a year was realistic, she responded: “I have no idea what the projects are … our experience with those type of projects is, they take long.”
D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat, welcomed the new investment in principle but stressed that Congress should also undo restrictions it placed on the city earlier this year. In February, the House passed a continuing resolution that effectively stripped the District of its ability to spend more than $1.1 billion of its own locally raised revenue, a move city officials warned would cut into general funds supported by D.C. taxpayers rather than federal grants. While the Senate quickly passed a bipartisan fix, the House never took it up, leaving the lower budget levels in place.
Norton told the Washington Examiner that while she has “long been a proponent of providing more federal funding for the National Park Service,” the “best action Congress could take would be to correct the massive injustice” of blocking D.C. from spending its own local funds. She added that if Trump truly wants to help the city, he should push Republican leaders in the House to pass the Senate-passed bill restoring those dollars.
Democrats more broadly have countered Trump’s moves by pointing to local statistics showing violent crime has declined sharply over the past three decades. They argue that his decision to federalize policing in the capital pushes the city closer to authoritarian rule and has renewed calls for D.C. statehood, though the prospect remains politically remote.
Republicans, meanwhile, see crime as one of their strongest political issues heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Party leaders have signaled they want to force Democrats into difficult votes on policing and public safety, a strategy they believe contrasts with what they call the District’s “soft-on-crime” leadership.
That effort is complicated, however, by Trump’s request to extend his 30-day federal takeover of D.C. policing, which is set to expire Sept. 9, just a week after lawmakers return from recess. GOP leaders will likely need to move quickly with a floor resolution to extend that authority, leaving any broader crime package for later.
The Oversight Committee’s September hearing will feature Bowser, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and Attorney General Brian Schwalb, followed by a markup on legislation to toughen juvenile crime enforcement and roll back policing limits enacted by the Council.
HOUSE OVERSIGHT PREPARES TRANCHE OF DC CRIME BILLS AS TRUMP CRACKS DOWN ON DISTRICT
Bowser said she will cooperate with the committee’s demands, telling reporters Wednesday when asked about Chairman James Comer’s request for police records and testimony: “We will cooperate. We have been cooperating, and we will continue to cooperate.”
The September hearing and markup will give lawmakers their first chance to question D.C. officials publicly since Trump’s federal takeover began. But beyond that, Congress is still waiting for the White House to provide specifics on how the $2 billion initiative will be structured, and how it fits into the broader crime bill Trump continues to promise.