National Guard members posted outside Washington, D.C.’s, Union Station on Aug. 14. The president can deploy the National Guard for up to 30 days in the District, but some in Congress are fighting to expand that authority, while others seek to limit it. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
By Mitchell Miller
The president’s declared crime emergency in Washington, D.C., is scheduled to end after 30 days, unless Congress approves an extension, which many GOP lawmakers say they are ready to vote for when they return from recess next week, if the president says it is necessary.
Democrats, meanwhile, are considering legislation that would end the president’s takeover of D.C. law enforcement, and would give the mayor control over the District’s National Guard.
Republican Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) has proposed legislation to amend the D.C. Home Rule Act, so that a president would be allowed to assert control over D.C. police for 180 days.
“My legislation ensures that President Trump has the necessary time and authority to quell the chaos that has reigned in woke D.C.,” Biggs said in a statement.
Cosponsors of his legislation include Maryland Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st).
Other Republican lawmakers have proposed legislation to extend the federal surge in D.C. indefinitely, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who has introduced a competing bill.
Biggs has also introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of cashless bail in D.C., a favorite target of President Donald Trump (R). Cashless bail allows judges to release individuals who are awaiting trial, without the defendant having to post a bond to guarantee they’ll show up.
Trump and the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, have been highly critical of cashless bail and have made it clear they want it eliminated. Trump on Monday signed an executive order threatening to withhold federal funds from any jurisdiction that has a cashless bail policy, although it is unclear if he has the authority to do so.
Democrats have bills to end the crime emergency
Congressional Democrats have proposed their own legislation, seeking to limit the duration of the federal surge.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting delegate to Congress, has introduced a bill to terminate what she calls the president’s “unprecedented federalization of MPD.” She has also introduced a bill that would require National Guard troops deployed in D.C. who deal with crime to wear body cameras.
“President Trump’s decision to federalize MPD and deploy more than 2,000 National Guard troops to D.C. is an unnecessary assault on D.C. Home Rule for purposes that eight out of 10 D.C. residents oppose,” Norton said in a statement to WTOP.
Norton and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) have also reintroduced legislation that would give D.C. full control over its National Guard, as well as the police department. Currently, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser cannot activate the National Guard — that power resides with the president.
While Democrats have pushed back on the president’s deployment of federal agents and Guard troops, they have little leverage given its widespread support among Republicans in Congress, who control the House and Senate.
Democrats may try to oppose extending the law enforcement surge in the Senate with a filibuster.
If they block the extension, the president has suggested he might declare a national emergency to get around Congress, which could lead to a battle in the courts.
– As part of Maryland Matters’ content sharing agreement with WTOP, we feature this article from Mitchell Miller. Click here for the WTOP News website.
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