Norton, Van Hollen Will Reintroduce Bills to Grant D.C. Full Control Over Its National Guard, Police as Trump Calls in D.C. National Guard and Federalizes D.C. Police

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) announced that they will reintroduce their legislation to grant the District of Columbia full control over the D.C. National Guard and the Metropolitan Police Department when Congress reconvenes in September. These measures are needed more urgently than ever as President Donald Trump today assumed control of D.C.’s police department and announced plans to deploy the National Guard in the District. The Administration took these actions without consulting D.C. government officials and despite crime being at a 30-year low in 2024 and a decrease of 26% this year compared to the same time period last year.

“President Trump's unprecedented federalization of the D.C. Police today and his activation of the D.C. National Guard without D.C.'s consent underscore the necessity of D.C. statehood,” Norton said. “Until we get the full protections that statehood would provide, our bills repealing the president's authority to federalize the local D.C. police department and to give D.C.'s mayor control over the D.C. National Guard, like governors of states have over their National Guards, places D.C. closer to having control over some of its most vital affairs. Thank you to Senator Van Hollen for being my determined partner on these bills in the Senate and a vigorous advocate for D.C. home rule.” 

“Trump’s raw authoritarian power grab in D.C. is part of a growing national crisis. He’s playing dictator in our nation’s capital as a dress rehearsal as he pushes democracy to the brink. While we continue to fight for statehood for D.C., Trump’s assault on D.C.’s autonomy makes it all the more critical that we give the District full control over its own National Guard and police department. This is not just about self-governance for D.C. – it’s also about preventing authoritarian overreach by a lawless president like we are witnessing today,” said Senator Van Hollen.

“While the District of Columbia has seen violent crime decline over the past two years, there is still more progress to be made on making it safer for all. But if Trump actually cared about the people of D.C. and their safety, he wouldn’t have blocked the local government from spending over $1 billion of its own money to fund its own police department, schools, and more. Instead of commandeering the local police and deploying the military to the City’s streets, Donald Trump should give D.C. back its money and get the hell out of the District’s way,” Senator Van Hollen continued. The Senator introduced bipartisan legislation with Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) to unlock the over $1 billion of D.C.’s own funds that Republicans unnecessarily froze through their funding bill in March. Their bill passed the Senate unanimously, but House Republicans have still not brought it up for a vote.

The District of Columbia Police Home Rule Act would repeal the provision in the Home Rule Act that gives the President the authority to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department. The Home Rule Act provides that, “whenever the President of the United States determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes, he may direct the mayor to provide him, and the mayor shall provide, such services of the Metropolitan Police force as the President may deem necessary and appropriate.”

The District of Columbia National Guard Home Rule Act would name the Mayor of Washington, D.C. as Commander-in-Chief of the D.C. National Guard, giving the Mayor the same control over the D.C. National Guard that the governors of the states and the three territories with National Guards have over their respective National Guards. Under current law, the President is Commander-in-Chief of the D.C. National Guard.

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