Nearly all House Democrats voted against GOP legislation aimed at reducing juvenile crime in the District of Columbia on Tuesday evening.
The House of Representatives passed two bills to roll back soft-on-crime policies in the district that Republicans argue embolden repeat offenders and deter local law enforcement. The legislative push comes as President Donald Trump is threatening to reassert federal control over the capital city’s law enforcement due to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s refusal to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Just 29 House Democrats voted for legislation (H.R. 4922) that would allow individuals 18 to 24 years-old to be sentenced as an adult and require youth offender crime statistics to be public in the nation’s capital.
Similarly, just eight Democratic lawmakers supported a bill (H.R. 5140) that would lower the age at which minors could be tried as an adult for various violent criminal offenses.
The nation’s capital saw a marked decrease in violent crime since Trump’s crime crackdown efforts began on Aug. 11, according to a Daily Caller review of Metropolitan Police Department data.
The Daily Caller compared a two-week period during Trump’s federal takeover of D.C. law enforcement to the same time periods in 2024 and 2023 and found a noticeable dip in crime — a 21% drop in 2024 and a 33% drop in 2023.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had also publicly acknowledged that the federal law enforcement surge in the nation’s capital has helped fight crime and said she was grateful for the extra support.
House GOP leadership has argued that their legislative efforts to combat crime in D.C. illustrate a clear contrast with Democrats’ support for soft-on-crime policies, such as cashless bail and more generous sentencing guidelines.
“With these bills, Republicans are empowering the city’s law enforcement officers, fighting back against rampant juvenile crime, and making the district courts accountable again,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said during a House GOP leadership press conference on Tuesday. “The American people are fed up with out-of-control crime, and our capital city should serve as a blueprint for law and order across the country.”
“By setting the example here, President Trump and House Republicans are delivering on the promise to make America safe again,” Emmer added.
Trump threatened to “federalize” D.C. on Monday following Mayor Muriel Bowser’s opposition to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does. And with the end of the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does in the future,” Bowser said Wednesday during a public event, according to WUSA 9.
GOP lawmakers did not take up legislation to extend the president’s 30-day emergency powers over MPD, citing Bowser’s pledge to work with federal law enforcement officials.
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