DC leaders defend crime fighting efforts to Congress as federal law
enforcement surge continues
[September 19, 2025]
By GARY FIELDS and MATT BROWN
WASHINGTON (AP) — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Thursday defended her
policies to Congress as President Donald Trump's law enforcement surge
is in its second month and lawmakers act to further limit the city's
authority.
She was invited to the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform to answer questions about crime in the nation's capital. Trump
issued an emergency order last month that federalized the city's police
department and launched a surge of law enforcement. The emergency order
expired earlier this month but federal agencies and the National Guard
continue their operations in the city.
Bowser listed off the city's accomplishments in reducing crime,
acknowledging that the federal intervention had enhanced those
achievements.
“Any crime is too much crime,” Bowser said. “But we’re trending in the
right direction.”
Bowser is leading the city at a time when the district’s self-governance
is being challenged in ways never before seen since the passage of the
Home Rule Act of 1973, which grants the district some autonomy. Federal
leaders retain significant control over local affairs, including the
approval of the budget and laws passed by the D.C. Council.
Committee chair berated Bowser and other officials on crime
Committee chair Rep. James Comer berated Bowser and other city officials
for D.C. crime, opening the hearing with a litany of recent offenses,
many of them crimes involving current and former congressional staff
members, including the fatal shooting of Congressional intern Eric
Tarpinian-Jachym.
“These high crime rates are largely driven by historically high rates of
juvenile crime, which were enabled by ultra-progressive, soft on crime
policies enacted by the D.C. Council and supported by the D.C. Attorney
General,” he said.
Comer also talked about other changes in D.C. law that had eliminated
mandatory minimum sentences for most crimes as well as changes that
restricted local police from pursuing criminals.
“Officers cannot execute their duties as effectively, leaving morale,
retention and recruitment numbers at historic lows for the Metro Police
Department,” he said. “These actions send every signal to criminals,
especially juveniles, that they can commit crimes in the district
without accountability.”
Trump has touted the law enforcement surge as a resounding success in
driving down the city’s crime rate — an assertion Bowser has supported.
But data showed that crime was already falling before the federal
intervention.
The city’s crime has been a central theme for Republicans, including
Trump, who proclaimed the emergency in August because of what he
described as “disgraceful” and out of control crime. Trump has
threatened to issue another emergency order if Bowser follows through on
her promise to not cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Bills would realign D.C.'s criminal justice system
At the hearing, the tone of questions from members of the committee
depended on party affiliation. Democrats defended the leadership of the
district’s leaders.
Bowser's appearance before the committee came one day after the House
passed the legislation of what would be a major realignment of the
district's criminal justice system.
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District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, from left, D.C.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser are
sworn in during a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The bills in question — including lowering the age at which
juveniles can be charged as adults for some crimes to 14 from 16, as
well as eliminating D.C.’s role in selecting judges and leaving that
solely to the president, passed out of the committee last week. The
House Rules Committee passed the same group of bills on Monday and
the House, with a number of Democrats supporting the measures,
approved the bills.
The bills are not likely to get through the Senate filibuster but
they are among the most comprehensive crime packages to advance in
Congress in recent memory.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, also at the hearing, said
Washington was “a city under siege.”
“It is frustrating to watch this committee debate and vote on 14
bills regarding the district without a single public hearing, with
no input from district officials or the public,” he said.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who filed a lawsuit challenging
the federal intervention, said that his office only has jurisdiction
in juvenile cases in D.C., where it prosecutes them vigorously. He
pointed out that his office prosecutes 84% of all violent juvenile
cases, including 90% of homicides and attempted homicides and 87
percent of carjackings. “Kids must face consequences when they break
the law,” he said.
The hearing included discussions about D.C.’s diversity, equality
and inclusion programs, reparations and how to define womanhood, a
reflection of how Congress has the power to control broad aspects of
the capital’s day-to-day workings, should it choose to.
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina pressed Bowser on a series of
social policies and language she objected to in the district’s legal
code. She argued those were causes for federal intervention into the
city and said she was introducing legislation to address them.
The five-hour plus hearing had moments of high-tension, primarily
between committee members but there were moments of agreement. Under
questioning from GOP Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, Mendelson
acknowledged that the additional federal authorities, such as the
FBI and the DEA had brought crime down even more during the 30-day
period.
“The additional law enforcement resources has been good. We work
with those different agencies all the time. There was more of it,
more of a good thing.,” he said. “National Guard is separate. ICE is
separate.”
“The hearing was disgraceful in its characterization of the
district,” Bowser told reporters after the hearing. “We know that
the district is 700,000 people, great neighborhoods, great
businesses, where people want to live, start businesses, send their
kids to school and visit. Did the district have a crime spike in
2023? Yes. Have we driven down crime in the two years since? Yes.
And so to characterize the district as some dystopian hell hole is
categorically false.”
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