The House Oversight Committee will mark up a GOP-led bill next week that would expand President Donald Trump‘s power over the criminal justice system in Washington by removing the D.C. attorney general and making the office federally appointed.
The bill, introduced on Thursday by Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), would give the president the power to appoint the D.C. attorney general, which is currently an elected position. The legislation would terminate the current attorney general’s term on the day the bill is signed into law, and his successor would not need Senate confirmation.
The legislation comes after Trump federalized the Metropolitan Police Department in response to declining but chronic juvenile crime in the district. Trump has accused district leaders, including D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, of letting violence run rampant in the city and has deployed National Guard troops to supplement his federal takeover.
The district has limited autonomy to run its affairs but is subject to federal oversight through the Home Rule Act of 1973. Fallon’s bill, plus a host of others under consideration in the House, represent Republicans’ efforts to restrict that autonomy further, particularly when it comes to criminal justice.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has welcomed the surge of resources to address crime, but wants Trump to end the emergency order granting him temporary federal control. Separately, the courts rebuffed an effort by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to establish an emergency police commissioner after Schwalb filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in mid-August.
The Justice Department has since rewritten a section of the order to designate DEA administrator Terrance Cole as a liaison between the federal government and local D.C. officials rather than the emergency police chief.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Fallon touted recent reports that crime is down by half in the district since Trump deployed the National Guard and other federal law enforcement troops nearly four weeks ago.
“This comes after, in recent years, D.C. saw close to two-thirds of arrests go unprosecuted, which made clear, far and wide, that crime in the nation’s capital would go unpunished,” Fallon said. “Law-abiding residents and visitors to Washington, D.C., deserve to live their lives free from rampant crime, which is why it is critical to ensure that the President and Congress can hold the district’s attorney general accountable when public safety is in jeopardy.”
The District of Columbia Attorney General Appointment Reform Act is one of several bills targeting crime in Washington that House Oversight is expected to take up this month. According to the Washington Post, there are 14 bills in total.
In the Senate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is reviving a Republican push to undo the district‘s 2023 police reforms, which imposed new requirements on officers including a ban on chokeholds. Congress previously voted to repeal the law, but then-President Joe Biden blocked the repeal with a presidential veto. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), who spearheaded the original repeal effort, is introducing the House version.
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Also on the horizon is legislation that meets Trump’s request for $2 billion to revitalize the district. He’s pledged to redo roads, remove graffiti, and relocate homeless camps in order to “make Washington beautiful” again.
The Oversight Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on Sept. 18 as well to examine crime in the district. Bowser, Schwalb, and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson are expected to attend.