D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an order Tuesday laying out how the District will work with federal agencies moving forward.
The order includes the new Safe and Beautiful Emergency Operations Center that will coordinate efforts between D.C. police and federal agents.
While listing many law enforcement agencies, it omits Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The order says D.C. will cooperate with the feds to the extent D.C. law allows.
The order also includes a request federal law enforcement wear identification but not masks.
If the Trump administration’s crime emergency for D.C. isn’t extended, that doesn’t mean the National Guard and federal officers must stop patrolling D.C. streets. Instead, it means the president can no longer tell D.C. police what to do.
D.C.’s police union endorsed the mayor’s order Tuesday.
Dozen bills aimed at DC considered in Congress
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., plans to introduce two bills directed at crime in the nation’s capital. The Make D.C. Safe Again Act would extend the crime emergency for six months. The second bill, the Keep Offenders Off Our Streets Act, would prohibit the practice of cashless bail in the D.C., which Trump wants implemented across the country.
The bills likely would pass the Republican-controlled House, but in the U.S. Senate, it would require at least seven Democrats to vote with Republicans to clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold, making it less certain to pass.
At least 10 other bills being floated on the Hill are aimed at D.C., including bills that would make it illegal to camp on public property, making it easier to charge young people as adults, giving the president the power to appoint the D.C. attorney general and making it easier for congress to block D.C. laws.
Also on the Hill Tuesday, U.S. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, along with other Republicans, announced legislation that would, among other things, prevent the D.C. Council from barring the public and press from their meetings.
“Congress must take next step and use our Article I powers,” he said. “We cannot and will not allow D.C. to fall into a hellscape again. When the local government fails, it’s our constitutional duty to act. Congress has a clear constitutional authority over D.C., and we will use it without hesitation to continue making D.C. safe and great again.”
Progressive groups urge Bowser to push back at White House
Bowser received a lot of criticism from residents after her press conference last week thanking the Trump administration for the increased law enforcement presence and touting the dramatic decrease in crimes since the federal surge in the District. The mayor has been trying to strike a balance all year to avoid picking a fight with Trump. In some respects, it appears to have worked, as the president has not followed through with threats to overturn Home Rule and praising Bowser Monday for cooperating with the federal surge.
A group of more than 100 progressive organizations, including churches and unions, wrote the mayor a letter Tuesday urging her to more forcefully push back at the White House, which the mayor continues to be reluctant to do.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement Tuesday, saying: “President Trump’s efforts to crack down on crime in D.C. have yielded tremendous results in such a short time — violent crime has plummeted, and dangerous criminals are being removed from the streets every single night. The Trump administration is grateful to continue partnering with Mayor Bowser to make D.C. the safest city in the country. The mayor’s fellow Democrats should take note, working with President Trump means safer communities and less crime – no one in their right mind could seriously oppose that.”
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