A trio of House Republicans have proposed a solution to helping D.C. reduce crime: repealing the D.C. Home Rule Act — and letting Congress figure it out.

Led by freshman Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.), the Republicans introduced legislation Friday to repeal the 1973 law that gave D.C. its elected mayor and city council, marking the most extreme escalation of Republicans’ interest in controlling D.C. down to the city’s traffic laws. The drastic proposal would be highly unlikely to succeed in the politically split Congress but is evidence of the appetite Republicans have shown this year to intervene in District affairs — in this case, by seeking to abolish its elected local government.

None of the three Republicans, including co-sponsors Byron Donalds (Fla.) and Matthew M. Rosendale (Mont.), responded to requests for comment.

In a statement to the Washington Examiner on Friday, Ogles cited rising crime in D.C. as the impetus for the legislation as the District is on track to have its deadliest year in two decades. But Ogles has not offered any details about what he is envisioning Congress would do about that, nor does his legislation indicate what type of governmental system it would set up to administer the local affairs of a city of roughly 700,000 people.

“The Nation’s capital has been overrun with violent crime, drugs, theft, homelessness, and riots,” Ogles, the former mayor of Maury County, Tenn., said in a statement. “The Constitution places the authority and responsibility of DC administration with the Congress — not with a DC Mayor or a DC City Council. Congress needs to reclaim its Constitutional authority and make our Nation’s capital safe again, which is why I’m introducing the Seat of Government Act to repeal the DC Home Rule Act.”

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said the bill reflected Republicans’ “antipathy toward the District,” adding he could not imagine Congress administering local affairs in a city that now has a nearly $20 billion budget and dozens of agencies requiring oversight. He contended Congress never had the attention for those responsibilities — let alone now, after the city has grown exponentially.

“My first reaction is this: The gentleman hasn’t a clue how to run the District of Columbia,” he said. “And the notion that Congress is ready to go back 50 years, when it wasn’t running the city well then, is fantasy.”

Republicans made similar threats to try to repeal D.C.’s home rule in the 1990s, when homicides exceeded 400 in some years and the District was on the brink of bankruptcy. Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) renewed the threat last year.

  • Billiam@lemmy.world
    351·
    1 year ago

    God damn, Republicans are so fucking stupid:

    The Constitution places the authority and responsibility of DC administration with the Congress — not with a DC Mayor or a DC City Council

    And the mayor and city council exist because (drumroll please!) Congress exercised its responsibility by creating those positions.

    But honestly, it’s not surprising: Republicans have been all-out assaulting democracy, and this would leave the residents of DC with no elected federal or local government.

    • athos77@kbin.social
      151·
      1 year ago

      They’d also control the city cops and become the people responsible for calling in the National Guard, meaning the next insurrection will succeed.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
    301·
    1 year ago

    Oh yes.

    Let’s take a city’s crime problem and give it to a body that can barely manage to hold session…

    … this is going to be brilliant!

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOP
      211·
      1 year ago

      Wouldn’t be the first time a GOP body wrecked a dem city. Plenty of red states have put limits on Blue cities, effectively limiting their ability to govern

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        17·
        1 year ago

        No, it wouldn’t be.

        And they don’t have to worry about loosing the house either.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
            21·
            1 year ago

            What?

            Reality: DC is not in its own state. They have no representation in the house. Some residents will vote elsewhere… but permanent residents don’t get that.

            So the reality is a) they’re barely capable of having a speaker… and b) the house would absolutely screw things over for DC residents and c) they don’t have to care because DC has no (direct) representation

            • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
              1·
              1 year ago

              Reality: DC is technically already unconstitutional because of the lack of representation you speak of.

              It is not a status quo worth even tangentially being OK with, let alone something worth allowing to get worse.

              • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                1 year ago

                “It’s not okay, that they’re already without representation, so we should allow republicans to make things worse”

                Is a confusing argument to make?

                I agree: they deserve representation. I have no easy answers…but these guys want to assume control of the city’s police and city council. Ask yourself why they would want to do that…. And then ask yourself who it was that was providing backup to cap hill police on Jan 6….

  • Mostly_Gristle@lemmy.world
    191·
    1 year ago

    I’m sure this is all about reducing crime in D.C., and nothing to do with putting the Republicans in direct control of D.C. law enforcement when they have themselves a second insurrection if Biden wins another term next year.

  • Reptorian@lemmy.zipEnglish
    41·
    1 year ago

    Those things that Republicans say about blue places. If one look at the statistics and account for density, then it’s clear that Republicans simply cannot govern. And this won’t even pass. Please remember to vote for the party, and take into account of Duverger’s Law, and what matches closest to you accounting for that. Even if you don’t like what you are offered, there are likely at least some in the downballot that you can vote for keeping your conscience, and push things through your preferred direction.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    32·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The drastic proposal would be highly unlikely to succeed in the politically split Congress but is evidence of the appetite Republicans have shown this year to intervene in District affairs — in this case, by seeking to abolish its elected local government.

    D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said the bill reflected Republicans’ “antipathy toward the District,” adding he could not imagine Congress administering local affairs in a city that now has a nearly $20 billion budget and dozens of agencies requiring oversight.

    “It would be complete disenfranchisement,” said Chris Myers Asch, co-author of “Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital.” “You would also take away the neighborhood commissions, which have been a great vehicle for citizen activism on the ground.

    The appropriations bill that advanced from a House committee last month goes as granular as seeking to restrict D.C. from using automated cameras for traffic enforcement and halt the District from banning right turns on red at many intersections.

    “Perhaps Congressman Ogles should leave the governance of the District of Columbia to the 700,000 people who live here and their duly elected officials and be more concerned with solving the problems back home in Tennessee’s 5th,” Patrice Snow, communications director of D.C. Vote, said in a statement.

    “While the Democrat Mayor and Democrat-led city government struggle to respond to the increased violence, this Republican Majority has already acted,” McCarthy wrote, bolding his words for emphasis.

    I’m a bot and I’m open source!