Leading Democrats on the House’s Judiciary and Oversight committees introduced legislation Friday to terminate President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the District of Columbia’s police department.
Reps. Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia — the top Democrats on Judiciary and Oversight, respectively — along with D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen introduced a joint resolution to terminate the “crime emergency” that Trump declared in the District enabling him to use National Guard troops for policing.
The two-page joint resolution says Trump did not identify the conditions necessary to declare an emergency that warrants control of the department, and that even if he had, he would have been limited to directing D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to provide him with the police department’s services. The legislation also cites statistics that the Department of Justice released in early January showing that crime is at a 30-year low in the District.