Washington, D.C. Faces Unprecedented Federal Intervention as National Guard Deployed

Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke to reporters on Monday afternoon, hours after President Trump announced that the federal government would take over the city's police department and deploy the National Guard to the streets of Washington. As the city's most prominent resident, President Trump has been vocal about his negative views of the nation's capital, describing it as a "filthy and crime-ridden embarrassment" and a "rat-infested, graffiti-infested shithole." For a city that federal law leaves vulnerable to the prerogatives of the White House, the raw rhetoric was a warning. Under the Home Rule Act of 1973, Washington has a degree of self-governance, but it is limited. Key roles in the city's criminal justice system are in federal hands, with the president nominating judges and the U.S. attorney, who serves as the city's chief prosecutor in most criminal cases.

Key Takeaways:

• The deployment of the National Guard on city streets without the local government's say-so marks the first time a president has taken over the local police in Washington, D.C. since the city gained Home Rule in 1973.
• The city's murder rate has declined to 2019 levels, and in January, before Mr. Trump took office, the U.S. Justice Department announced that violent crime had fallen to a 30-year low.
• Mayor Muriel Bowser has been calculating in her dealings with Mr. Trump, emphasizing in speeches that she shares his goals for the city and making strategic concessions on matters likely to rile him up.
• The likelihood of a full congressional repeal of the Home Rule Act, stripping the city of what limited self-government it now enjoys, seems low given the slim Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.
• Historian George Derek Musgrove says that the real message Mr. Trump seems to be sending is that Democratic leaders are simply incapable of running their cities.
• Retiree Jeffrey Willis, a 40-year Washington resident, has no illusions about the challenges his city faces, but insists that the city's police force is making progress, and that young people need a sense of opportunity.

Statistics:

• The city's murder rate has declined to 2019 levels.
• Violent crime in Washington, D.C. has fallen considerably over the past 18 months.
• 52 years of Home Rule in Washington, D.C. have seen other encroachments on the city's autonomy, including a financial control board established by Congress in 1995.
• The president's declaration of an emergency would have allowed him to come in and, temporarily at least, take over the local police.
• The slim Republican majority in the U.S. Senate makes a full congressional repeal of the Home Rule Act unlikely.

Sources:

• The New York Times, "Washington, D.C. Faces Unprecedented Federal Intervention as National Guard Deployed"
• The New York Times, "City's Autonomy Suffers Another Blow as President Trump Takes Over Police"
• George Derek Musgrove, author of "Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital"
• Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, D.C.
• Charles Allen, Member of the District of Columbia Council
• Chuck Thies, veteran political consultant
• Mary Cheh, law professor and former member of the District of Columbia Council
• Jeffrey Willis, 66-year-old Washington resident
• Clyde McGrady, Sonia A. Rao, and Darren Sands, journalists with The New York Times