The hearing centered on Republicans praising Trump’s takeover, which lasted 30 days under an executive order, and attributing crime reductions to the MPD joining with National Guard, as well as FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, to police the streets. 

Democrats, however, pointed to a 30-year decline in violent crime before the takeover and insisted the presence of the National Guard is both a waste of time for the officers and a disregard for the district’s home rule. 

While the hearing didn’t feature many member-on-member arguments, Republicans and Democrats did argue over the $1 billion in funding slashed from the district’s budget in the March short-term spending deal. 

Democrats and Republicans battle over whether Trump has been effective for DC

Throughout much of the hearing, Republicans pointed to lower rates of crime during Trump’s federal takeover of the city as a success measure, while Democrats said Trump’s effort had been done in bad faith. 

“Sending masked agents in unmarked cars to pick people up off the streets; flooding our neighborhoods with armed national guardsmen untrained in local policing; attempting a federal takeover of our police force — none of these are durable, lasting solutions for driving down crime,” Schwalb said. “In fact, this threatens to destroy critical trust between local communities and police, which is essential to effective, efficient policing and prosecution.”

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) pressed Bowser on whether the drop in crime was due to the National Guard’s presence. The National Guard cannot make arrests, but can assist law enforcement with peacekeeping measures.

“You would agree that right now crime has dropped dramatically since they’ve been present?” Perry asked.

Bowser argued that the federal law enforcement’s presence had been more useful in reducing crime than the Guard.

“So, you’re saying that the Guard has made no impact in D.C.?” he asked back. “You can’t quantify it, so you can’t make the claim.”

The district’s crime statistics are under investigation by the Oversight Committee following allegations and whistleblower disclosures that the Metropolitan Police Department “deliberately” manipulated crime data.

During Thursday’s hearing, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked Mendelson whether the council was “cooking the books.” Mendelson said he did not think so. When asked by Jordan if he thought Gregg Pemberton, head of the D.C. police union and vocal supporter of the federal takeover, was lying about crime statistics, the council chairman said “yes.” 

“Wow,” Jordan said. 

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) said that under Trump’s order, the Metropolitan Police Department had earned back his trust, noting that “does not happen just by blatantly manipulating crime statistics, seeking politically motivated litigation, and spending irresponsibly. Mayor Bowser, I must say, I never felt safer in D.C. There’s a record low crime rate.”

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats criticized the Trump administration for taking over the district but, at the same time, cutting funding for gun and community violence prevention programs, saying these cuts have done the opposite of reducing crime.

“Before President Trump started playing dictator with the people of D.C., he started dismantling important community safety and violence crime prevention programs. Most notably, the White House Office of gun violence prevention, not a partisan office, an office that worked at reducing crime in all of our districts,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who spearheaded the program, said. 

The White House dismantled the office when Trump returned to office in January.

“Prosecution and prevention are both essential to making sure cities are safe,” Schwalb said in his opening remarks. 

Rep. Glenn Grothmann (R-WI) argued that crime has increased because there are not “fathers in the family.”

“If you look at statistics, which are hard to find, on the background of the people committing crimes, you frequently look at what I would describe as weak families and fatherless families,” Grothman said. 

In response, Jackson argued that the Trump administration had cut funding that supports at-risk youth, including those who grew up without a father.

“That $812 million that was terminated by the Trump administration cut community violence intervention programs, many of them do presciently that,” Jackson said. “So, if that’s a priority, we should be funding, doubling down, and scaling out that work.”

Norton, under spotlight for reelection viability, urges DC statehood

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) used her time during the Oversight hearing to push once again for D.C. to become the 51st state, a movement she’s championed for years. The federal takeover renewed calls for district statehood, with protesters adopting phrases like “free DC” and “statehood for DC” over the last month.

The district is home to nearly 700,000 voters, Norton pointed out during her remarks, and none have voting representation in Congress. As a delegate, Norton can vote on measures in committee and draft bills, but she cannot vote for legislation on the floor.

“D.C. has a larger population than two states,” Norton said. “Republicans do not like that D.C. votes for Democrats, so they deny D.C. statehood.” 

The House passed the statehood bill twice: once in 2020 and again in 2021 when Democrats were in the majority. But the real hurdle is the Senate, which has a 60-vote filibuster that makes most legislation require bipartisan support. 

Given the Senate’s Republican majority, any statehood bill is all but assured to be dead on arrival if it manages to slip through the narrow margins in the House this Congress. However, it is unlikely Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would even allow the bill to come to the floor.

During the hearing, the district panelists agreed that the district should become a state, with Schwalb saying it is “un-American” for the district not to have representation.

“D.C. residents are Americans, too,” Schwalb said. “Lack of voting representation harms the District of Columbia. We, at this moment in our country, should be expanding democracy, not constraining it.”

Bowser said the lack of representation gets a lot of focus, but what gets less focus is the lack of autonomy the district has. The mayor did get rare bipartisan agreement from Reps. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who both stated that she has a difficult job. The Democrat said during his remarks that Bowser is operating with “one hand tied behind her back.” 

The mayor agreed.

“I function as our jurisdiction’s governor, and county executive, and mayor,” Bowser said. “We perform the duties that all states are asked, and we don’t do anything less.” 

Norton’s ability to serve as the district’s representative has been under scrutiny for months, given her age of 88, rare public appearances, and the need for a staffer to be with her at most times while Congress is in session.

The delegate drew her most competitive challenger in over 35 years on Thursday. Robert White, a former aide to Norton and a third-term D.C. councilman, is running to replace her in the Democratic primary.

“Like most people in D.C., we recognize that she can’t do the things that she once did,” White said in an interview with Politico. 

“Right now, the District is vulnerable, and we’re losing ground,” White added, “and with only one elected member in this entire Congress, we need somebody with the fight, the energy, and the know-how.”

Comer calls out Democrats on CR vote

A tense exchange occurred between Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MD) and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) over the D.C. budget funding fix, in which Comer reminded the Democrats that the funding fix is in the continuing resolution set for a vote on Friday.

After the March spending deal slashed $1 billion from the district’s budget, the Senate unanimously voted to restore it, but it got stalled in the House as Republicans focused on reconciliation.

During the hearing, Lynch said it was “ironic” that Republicans who cut the $1 billion from the budget are now “saying we’re going to take over the city because you’re not taking care of law enforcement.”

When Comer pointed out that the $1 billion is restored in the CR, Lynch said, “let’s not talk about what we’re going to do, let’s talk about what we’ve done.”

“Are you going to vote for the CR, Mr. Lynch? Are the Democrats going to vote for the CR that restores [the funding]?” Comer asked.

“I don’t know, I haven’t read it yet,” Lynch said.

“All right, I will send you the text,” Comer quipped.

Comer himself has been a proponent of restoring the D.C. budget funding, telling the Washington Examiner prior to the CR that he’s advocated for the budget funds to be restored, but it was ultimately up to leadership to make the call.

Though the $1 billion in funding is part of the CR, it is unlikely to be enough incentive to get Democrats on board. The party has insisted on healthcare concessions in the spending deal, but Republicans have urged that a “clean” CR is the best path forward.

Democrats insist Trump’s order is wasting National Guard’s time

Democratic officials said that the 2,200 National Guard troops currently roaming the city were wasting their time at the direction of Trump. Guardsmen have been ordered to expand their duties to encompass “beautification” across the city, and they have been seen picking up trash and raking leaves.

Mendelson said that the D.C. National Guard was “a very valuable and wonderful asset to the city,” but noted that that statement was different than supporting Trump’s move to bring thousands of Guardsmen to patrol the streets. 

“They are not trained in law enforcement, and my understanding is that many of them were looking kind of bored with what they were doing,” Mendelson said.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) cited a report that the deployment of the Guard to the District will cost $200 million, which he implied was a waste of money, as they are working on “beautification.”

“Let’s see how this money is being used. Trump says it’s for fighting crime. But here’s a Guardsman carrying trash. Here’s a guardsman mowing the lawn. Here’s a very nice gentleman, a guardsman, carrying a leaf blower,” he said, while showing pictures of Guardsmen doing said activities. 

“Honorable work certainly, but this is not why the taxpayers fund the National Guard,” Krishnamoorthi continued.

Lynch argued that the military should be “treated with more respect” than having to work on “beautification” projects.

TRUMP’S TAKEOVER OF DC POLICE RENEWS 51ST STATE DEBATE

“Not only is the military being politicized, coming in here and supporting one president’s agenda, but they’re also … they’re also suffering the humiliation of having to go pick up trash and do landscaping and spreading mulch things like that,” he said. 

“That is not what we ask of our sons and daughters when they put on that uniform,” he added. “We should treat them with more respect than this president is treating them right now.”