Republicans Dust Off Anti-D.C. Playbook to Sound Tough on Crime

Republicans are increasingly turning to a popular conservative punching bag, the District of Columbia, in a gambit to raise the alarm of crime in America’s cities before the 2024 elections.

The GOP won control of the House last year in part by pledging to tackle crime. Four months in, they have yet to pass major crime legislation, but have moved political messaging rolling back recent changes in D.C. criminal sentencing rules that they believe will appeal to voters across party lines.

“What they saw with the criminal code bill was an opportunity to make that a national issue and put Democrats on the defensive,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who supported the criminal code changes.

President Joe Biden and 33 Senate Democrats signed onto the measure (Public Law 118-1) after Republicans were able to cast the city’s changes as politically unpalatable.

“Politicians respond to public opinion,” Comer said in a brief interview last month. Democrats “realized that this crime is a huge issue, especially in their districts, in the blue districts. So we need to have a tough-on-crime position here in the House of Representatives. Republicans do, and I think we’re going to see more Democrats support our crime policies moving forward.”

Rep. James Comer (R-Tenn.) is chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, which oversees the District of Columbia.

Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg

Crime Concerns

The GOP’s increased focus on violent crime comes as the nation has grappled with an increase in murders since 2020, but also after more ambitious legislation on immigration and oversight of federal prosecutors has stalled.

Murder rates both nationwide and in the capital city remain below records set in the 1990s, when Washington was dubbed “the Murder Capital of the US.”

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Nevertheless, Republicans in particular have zeroed in crime rates on large cities run by Democrats, including New York City in the aftermath of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s indictment of former President Donald Trump. The GOP also was quick to note this week when Democrats announced their convention next year would be in Chicago that delegates there would be “dodging bullets” in the “crime-infested” city.

Congress claims uniquely broad jurisdiction over D.C., creating political and procedural opportunities to weigh in even as residents seek statehood and greater autonomy from the federal government.

The Home Rule Act of 1973 (Public Law 93–198) grants legislation striking down crime-related D.C. laws an exemption from Senate filibuster rules, easing their path to the president’s desk.

In fact, House Republicans have advanced as many measures overturning D.C. law in four months as previous Congresses did in the last four decades.

Biden already last month signed bipartisan legislation pushed by Republicans striking down legislation eliminating most mandatory minimum sentences and lowering the sentences on violent crimes like carjacking and robbery.

Supporters of the overhaul to the city’s century-old criminal code pointed out new maximum sentences still exceed what judges typically hand down.

Police Measure

Next, House Republicans plan to bring up for a vote this month a measure (H. J. Res. 42) that would overturn a 2020 D.C. law prohibiting police use of chokeholds and tear gas as well as increasing public access to body-worn camera footage.

The law also nixes disciplinary matters from being negotiated by the police union, and all matters relating to disciplinary action against police officers to be retained by management.

The DC police union filed a lawsuit challenging the collective bargaining provision but ultimately lost. The union opposes the law and backs efforts to block it from going into effect.

Comer’s panel advanced the legislation on a party-line vote late last month, and key chairmen expect it to come to the floor by the end of the month.

“This is a vehicle that you’ll see a lot of Democrats support” said Comer, stressing Democrats who don’t risk being labeled soft on crime.

But Biden has promised to veto the legislation if the Senate sends the measure to his desk, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last month.

Republicans have sought to cast crime in D.C. as a particularly personal issue. Republican lawmakers at a hearing by Comer’s committee recalled lawmakers, friends, and staffers being robbed or assaulted in the city.

“It’s their capital,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said of his constituents. “Their capital is getting overrun by crime, they want to be able to come here and try to live safely.”

But some Republicans came under fire for the tone of their remarks. Rep. Gary Palmer (Ala.), a member of GOP leadership, faced blowback for calling D.C. schools “inmate factories.” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) inaccurately said the criminal code Congress overthrew was still law, and she pressed a witness about his nonexistent support for decriminalization of public urination.

“People who watched it might have become more sympathetic to the District,” Mendelson said of Boebert’s line of questioning.

Comer has scheduled a second hearing on D.C. for May 16 and invited DC Muriel Bowser to testify.

DC Under Attack

Congress has a long history of passing laws governing D.C., even after granting the city quasi-autonomy in the 1970s.

Most congressional intervention in the city’s business rides on annual spending bills. They often bar the city from spending federal funds on abortion, marijuana legalization, needle exchanges, and lobbying for voting representation in Congress.

The House in February backed (H. J. Res. 24) that would block the city from allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections. Most GOP senators backed companion measures (S. J. Res. 5/S. J. Res. 6), but they don’t enjoy the same privilege status as crime-related overturns and withered in committee.

Two past successful congressional vetoes of D.C. law over 40 years ago struck down changes to local sexual assault law (H. Res. 208), while the other prevented restrictions on where diplomatic missions could be built (S. Con. Res. 63).

Other measures since 1975 blocking the local government initiatives on bonds (S. Con. Res. 78), prison overcrowding (H. J. Res. 341), and reproductive health (H. J. Res. 43) have also won the support of one chamber but never became law.

Before this year, the last time Congress successfully struck down D.C. law was in 1991. Congress that year prevented construction in D.C.'s Penn Quarter above the city’s limit on building heights (Public Law 102-11).

“When they’re in power, that’s what they usually do,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said in an interview of the GOP intervention in the District. “They’re going after these disapproval resolutions, but that’s not going to be the end of it.”