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Trump Aims to Restore Order to America’s Capital City

Posted on Wednesday, November 20, 2024
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by Andrew Shirley
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33 Comments
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Among the many storylines that will accompany Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January is another chapter in his contentious relationship with Washington, D.C.’s liberal leaders who have seen America’s capital city succumb to chaos and violence.

On the campaign trail this year, Trump pledged to restore order to D.C. as one of his many promises if he were to be re-elected. “We will take over the horribly run capital of our nation in Washington, D.C., and clean it up, renovate it, and rebuild our capital city so there is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime,” he said during one rally in Florida – floating the idea of revoking D.C.’s Home Rule, which Congress established in 1973. The 2024 Republican Party platform further states that the party “will reassert greater federal control over Washington, D.C., to restore law and order in the capital.”

Following Trump’s decisive victory on November 5, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has taken a surprisingly conciliatory tone toward the president-elect, promising a “collaborative” approach and reportedly requesting a meeting with the Trump transition team ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20. “I want to make it clear that Washington, D.C., is prepared to welcome the new administration, and we are committed to ensuring a smooth and collaborative transition,” she told reporters last week.

Nonetheless, Bowser has also been careful to note that her team has been “discussing and planning for many months in the case that the District has to defend itself and its values” – echoing plans from Democrat governors for how they intend to “Trump-proof” their states.

If history is any guide, Bowser’s civil rhetoric toward Trump likely won’t last long. During Trump’s first term, the three-term mayor worked to make herself the face of left-wing “resistance” to Trump, declaring D.C. a “sanctuary city” for illegal aliens and opposing his crackdown on violent crime.

Bowser’s campaign for media attention culminated during the George Floyd riots in 2020. As her city was overrun by riots, looting, and violence, Bowser renamed a two-block stretch just north of the White House as “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” emblazoning “Black Lives Matter” in large yellow letters on the street as a supposed rebuke of Trump. She also criticized Trump’s deployment of federal troops to restore order to the city as “racist.”

Under Bowser’s tenure, the nation’s capital has become one of the most dangerous in the country, with property and violent crime skyrocketing over the past decade. Murders were up 36 percent in D.C. last year, a 20-year high. Carjackings in the city, often committed by teenagers as young as 13 or 14, also exploded last year, doubling from 2022 and rising for the sixth straight year.

According to a report out earlier this year from the Manhattan Institute, crime has been on the rise in D.C. since 2019, even as crime rates have declined in some other cities. In one high-profile incident from last year, a staffer for Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was stabbed in broad daylight outside a Mexican restaurant.

Moreover, Bowser and her leadership team have overseen a mass exodus of police officers and a shortage of judges to handle mounting caseloads. Last year the number of D.C. police officers reached a half-century low even as crime rates reached historic levels.

Yet Bowser isn’t the only one to blame for the D.C.’s problems. The city council – made up of 11 Democrats and two liberal independents – is even more left-wing than she is. Last year the council overrode Bowser’s veto to pass sweeping changes to the city’s criminal code eliminating most mandatory minimum sentences and reducing mandatory maximum penalties on violent criminals.

The law was so extreme that Democrats and Republicans in Congress passed a resolution – ultimately signed by Joe Biden – overriding the council’s crime bill.

The failure of D.C.’s liberal leadership has sparked renewed discussions in Republican circles about revoking Home Rule in the capital city. Over the last century, D.C. has incrementally gained greater power for self-determination. In 1963, the 23rd Amendment gave D.C. residents three electoral votes for presidential and vice-presidential elections (previously residents had voted in either Maryland or Virginia). In 1970 D.C. gained a non-voting delegate in the House of Representatives before the 1973 Home Rule Act granted the city the right to elect a mayor and city council to pass laws subject to oversight from Congress.

Since then, liberals have been pushing for full statehood for D.C. – something the Founding Fathers clearly never intended, as they included a special carve-out in the Constitution for the creation of a unique capital city district. Republicans, meanwhile, have introduced several bills in recent years that would revoke D.C.’s Home Rule.

As long as the Senate filibuster is in place, Republicans would need at least 60 votes in the upper chamber to repeal the Home Rule Act – meaning that the nation’s capital city will very likely continue to elect a mayor and city council.

However, Republicans’ sweep of the House, Senate, and White House means that the GOP can exert greater oversight over the laws passed by D.C. Democrats. Trump can also use his executive authority as president to clamp down on crime.

While D.C. is home to some 678,000 residents, all Americans have a claim to partial ownership of the city. Each year billions of federal tax dollars go to maintaining the museums, monuments, and parks that preserve the nation’s history and culture. The city’s economy also relies heavily on federal workers whose salaries are funded by those same taxpayers. As the representatives of the entire country, Congress and the president have the right and responsibility to ensure good stewardship of the nation’s capital.

Andrew Shirley is a veteran speechwriter and AMAC Newsline columnist. His commentary can be found on X at @AA_Shirley.

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Paul
Paul
16 days ago

This is the reason Trump won the Election.
Trump will fix this mess caused by The Biden/Harris Adminstration.
Biden/Harris did nothing for 3 years 11 months.
There adgenda was to destroy the American Goverment.
and America’s sovereignty!
and to steal all the $$$$ That they could.

Clifford D. Moore
Clifford D. Moore
16 days ago

It’s our Capital City, our Federal Government should remove home rule.

FedUp
FedUp
16 days ago

So lets summarize the article.
DC mayor plans to fight Trump’s efforts to make Washington DC a nice place again.

Janet
Janet
16 days ago

Washington DC definitely needs to be cleaned up and made safe for All Americans and Visitors. Home rule needs to be revoked so that the city can be made beautiful again and be a shining star that reflects America as the greatest country in the world.

Light on the Hill
Light on the Hill
16 days ago

Mayor Bowser——-a poster girl for D.E.I and sheer incompetence. D.C is a cesspool because of her and her Marxist Democrat policies courtesy of Obama and Pelosi. Alot of black lives have been lost because of her. She was one of the “useful idiots” embracing BLM

KEN KING
KEN KING
16 days ago

yes the world’s is still looking for the DIRECTIONS TO A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE. WE NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY THINGS ARE NOW .

lawrence greenberg
lawrence greenberg
16 days ago

Our capital city is yet another clear example of the sheer incompetence and worthlessness od Democrat political leadership.

William Johnson
William Johnson
16 days ago

Our capital needs to be cleansed not only in the figurative sense, but in the literal sense as well. Compared to Tokyo, Washington, DC, is filthy. And here’s a word of caution: Do not drink from the public water fountains in Lafayette Square as the resident “homeless” use them for cleansing and . . . uh, other purposes if you get my meaning. I’ve seen it and it is disgusting.

Philip Seth Hammersley
Philip Seth Hammersley
16 days ago

Trump shouldn’t trust BowWow at all! After all, she had a big homage to criminal George Floyd painted on the city streets. Why would any SANE person honor a repeat criminal who, according to the coroner, did NOT die of police action but by his drug use?
Why is a brave police officer in prison for simply doing his sworn duty?

Joe
Joe
16 days ago

Trump’s intentions are great, but DC mayor Bow-wow is a radical BLM activist as evidenced by her prior actions. She’s also a lying liberal democrat, so her conciliatory comments about a peaceful transition of power is BS. Her failed leadership has resulted in DC becoming a crime-ridden dung heap, much like the other democrat-run cities. Since the people voted these incompetent liberals into their city offices, they deserve what they’re getting. Hopefully DJT can turn this around, but his immediate focus needs to be on building the wall, deportations, drilling, restoring our economy, and restoring world peace.

uncleferd
uncleferd
16 days ago

“…good stewardship of the nation’s capitol…” What a novel idea!! Must have taken a real genius to crack THAT nut!!

Thinking
Thinking
16 days ago

The inmates are running the insane asylum that is called Washington DC. DC should be ruled by the federal government. it should be a shining city on the hill. Representative of America. Not a political capital for every political group to create an uprising. I was there in the Spring of 2001 Found it to be a lovely city. But since 9/11 it is a fortress with fences around the capitol the White House. Tents have appeared around the White House. Lovely view. Let’s clean up the criminal element there. Let’s put law and order back in America and the place to start is Washington DC. The liberals are done with their agenda of no police and criminals running around free. Like the families of those that have been killed by the criminals that have come across the border and the victim is ignored. The criminal is protected. All this is okay with these progressives. They are their people. No they are not, they are strangers, aliens if you will. Who are here illegally because they broke the law. Therefore they are illegal aliens and according to the immigration laws, deportable.

Sean Rickman
Sean Rickman
16 days ago

AMERICA’S capitol should be a showplace,the best of the best,but now it is probably one of the worst places in AMERICA and that’s pretty bad because there are so many cities in our country that are at the bottom or below.King newsome will not read this,but he should.I live in Illinois and we are not much better.

fred smith
fred smith
16 days ago

I’ve worked construction in and out of DC, Virginia and Maryland for years and often said to myself, why would anyone want to come to DC on a vacation? I understand that it’s our capital and the seat of government but the embarrassing things i’ve seen on the sidewalks, while people walking around them to go to work is disgusting! The drunken homeless urinating in a coffee cup while walking along the sidewalk, in plain view of everyone else, is disgusting and certainly not something you want to bring your family around! Also, if you park along the street to quickly run into a building to gather your tools from a construction job you were working on, when you come out, your ladder is now dangling along the side of your truck only because you locked a cable around it! Drug addicted theives had tried to steal your ladder while you ran inside to get your tools, just to pawn it to get drug money! Trump’s definition of a “S” hole is dead on the money! He should clean that entire mess up by separating the federal government building areas from any domestic areas and strictly enforce that separation.

ROBIN
ROBIN
16 days ago

YES, YES…….let it begin….LOVE TRUMP !!!

David
David
16 days ago

I’m very happy Donald Trump won the election. It was a simple matter of this country becoming successful again or on the way to doom if Kamala Harris were elected. Democracy or Marxism. Democracy won which prevented further destruction of this country.

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
16 days ago

Automate jail security
CUT staffing
Merge depts?

phoenix
phoenix
16 days ago

No one is supposed to live in the District. Remove home rule.

Blue collar worker
Blue collar worker
12 days ago

I worked in DC in 1987-88, and it was a *hithole then. Robberies were commonplace, at night you couldn’t sit at a redlight, without fear of a car jacking or armed robbery. It just a way of life………

Hugh Johnson
Hugh Johnson
16 days ago

The heads of Democrats on poles lining the streets would be a nice touch!

johnh
johnh
16 days ago

Will see if Trump is serious about this if he follows thru on his promise to pardon any of the Jan 6th protesters. If he pardons them, then I will take that he condones the attack on CAPITOL building & does not support the Capitol Police.

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