On Monday, President Donald Trump took over Washington DC. What’s scarier– he doesn’t plan on stopping there. This takeover is another repetition in the continuous pattern of Trump’s overreach of federal power.
It is well within a President’s right to take over Washington DC thanks to the Home Rule Act of 1973. However, as stated in section 740 of the law, this is only supposed to be used in cases of emergency nature. While Trump has attempted to catastrophize the situation, with the White House claiming that this takeover is because DC is “under siege from out-of-control violent crime,” statistics show he is just wrong.
DC reached its highest homicide rate in 20 years in 2023, following a loosening of policing after the death of George Floyd. However, since then, crime has decreased substantially, invalidating Trump’s basis for the takeover.
When announcing the takeover, Trump noted that the U.S. capital has the highest crime rate, saying it was, “the number one we could find anywhere.” Trump is trying to use fear as a statistic to make the takeover seem reasonable, but his claims are false.
Trump’s takeover is unprecedented, though a similar occurrence took place in 1989 when Washington, DC was taken over by Congress. However, that time, it was warranted. Then, DC was the murder capital of the world, with a homicide rate above 400, today it is 101.
It is easy to see how Congress felt they needed to intervene in 1989, DC was in disarray. Our capital was in shambles. However, Congress’s taking over caused more harm than good, as untrained, unready police officers were put on the streets.
When Congress took control, it led to shortcuts being taken, something we do not need with the tension and known police brutality in modern society. It has been shown that lack of training is a contributing factor to police brutality.
Since the Home Rule act of 1973 was only intended for emergency situations, it has a limit on the length that the president can control the police without approval from Congress. That maximum length is 30 days, a time in which Trump has already noted that he plans to exceed. Trump has already alluded to the fact that he may try to bypass congress by calling a state of emergency. A state of emergency usually means, “a situation or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury or loss of life or property, resulting from a natural or man-made cause.”
Trump calling a state of emergency would be blowing the current situation in DC out of proportion. The last state of emergency in DC was also called by Trump, prior to the inauguration of former president Joe Biden. That was four years ago, and the homicide rate was substantially higher than it is today.
Trump needs to be checked before this expands into other cities. Trump has already stated he wants to take over other major U.S. cities including New York and Chicago. The good news is that a federal takeover of a city is a lot more complicated than taking over a district. The bad news is that Trump can release the National Guard under “Title 10” which makes troops report and work solely for the federal government.
Trump will continue this tyrannical behavior if not stopped. Taking over DC could be the first stepping stone in Trump’s ploy to control major U.S. cities.
