Here are 13 bills Congress Could Use to Seize More Control of DC
The House Oversight Committee is considering 13 bills that would dramatically expand federal control over Washington D.C., touching nearly every aspect of local governance including policing, the courts, juvenile justice, homelessness, education funding, and criminal sentencing. The proposals include ending the democratic election of D.C.'s attorney general and making it a presidential appointment, reinstating cash bail, lowering the age at which juveniles can be tried as adults from 16 to 14, repealing D.C.'s 2022 police reform law, criminalizing outdoor camping by homeless people, and extending congressional review powers over all D.C. legislation. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called the bills "an affront to home rule," and the legislation represents the most sweeping federal intervention into D.C.'s self-governance in recent memory. While the bills are expected to pass the House, they face a tougher path in the Senate where Republicans would need seven Democrats to break a filibuster — though the article notes that D.C. can no longer count on reliable Democratic support, given that even President Biden joined Republicans to overturn D.C.'s crime bill just a few years ago.