American Oversight Launches Investigation Into Trump Administration’s Power Grab at D.C. Home Rule
President Trump’s announcement that he will federalize D.C. and authorize the deployment of National Guard troops into the nation’s capitol is a brazen escalation of the administration’s efforts to control cities it views as political adversaries.
Today, following President Trump’s announcement that he will federalize the nation’s capital, including the deployment of National Guard troops, American Oversight launched an investigation into the administration’s escalating power grab designed to seize control of the District of Columbia — a move that advances his efforts to punish cities he views as “the core of the Democrat Power Center” and further the long-standing push by congressional Republicans to revoke the city’s home rule.
The deployment is part of a pattern in Trump’s politicized use of the National Guard — from his inaction and hours-long delay in sending troops to defend the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, to his controversial deployment of Guard units against immigration protesters in Los Angeles earlier this year.
In recent days, President Trump has ordered a surge of federal law enforcement officers into D.C., deployed the National Guard, and vowed to forcibly remove the city’s homeless population — all under the guise of responding to “blood thirsty criminals” and “roving mobs of wild youth” — which stands in sharp contrast to official FBI data released last week confirming violent crime in D.C. has dropped significantly from this time last year, and overall crime is also down. Additionally, at a Monday press conference Trump vowed, “This will go further,” threatening to extend similar federal crackdowns to New York City, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago, and Oakland — all cities led by Democratic mayors.
“President Trump’s narrative of a city ‘out of control’ has no basis in reality — but it does follow a familiar pattern of aggressive fearmongering drawn straight from the authoritarian strongman’s playbook to seize control and consolidate power,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “We’ve seen the president’s politicization of the National Guard before — from his inaction and delay in deploying the National Guard to protect the Capitol on January 6, to the dubious use of Guard troops against immigration protesters in Los Angeles — and now he is using the same tactics to advance a preplanned federal takeover that would roll back 50 years of home rule and silence the voices of more than 700,000 residents.”
The administration’s actions follow the March creation of the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force” by executive order, a body empowered to coordinate federal law enforcement, monitor the city’s sanctuary status, and order the removal of homeless encampments on federal land. Reporting suggests this task force is now operationalizing a preexisting plan to federalize city functions in the wake of a recent high-profile incident involving an administration staffer.
American Oversight’s requests seek to determine whether the administration’s public-safety rationale is a cover for a broader political effort to strip power from D.C.’s locally elected leaders.
The Home Rule Act of 1973 granted D.C. residents the right to elect their own mayor and council, but Congress retains the power to override local governance. Trump’s public comments and the task force’s sweeping mandate raise concerns that this authority could be used to permanently revoke local control.