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Republicans Escalate Federal Takeover of D.C. in Sweeping Attack on Home Rule

November 21, 2025

Congressional Republicans are advancing multiple bills that would significantly reduce the autonomy of Washington D.C.'s local government and its elected officials. The proposed legislation would eliminate police accountability reforms, reinstate cash bail systems, and transfer various governing powers from D.C.'s mayor and council to federal lawmakers and the president. More than 700,000 D.C. residents, who lack full congressional representation, would see their locally-elected officials stripped of authority over critical policy areas including law enforcement, judicial appointments, and criminal justice procedures.

Who is affected

  • More than 700,000 Washington D.C. residents
  • Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council
  • D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton
  • D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb
  • Poor residents who would face cash bail and pretrial detention
  • Black and economically disadvantaged individuals in the criminal justice system
  • D.C. public defender offices
  • Local law enforcement agencies

What action is being taken

  • Republicans on the House Rules Committee are moving forward with H.R. 5107 and H.R. 5214
  • The House has passed two additional anti-autonomy bills
  • Rep. Summer Lee is confronting Republicans on the House Rules Committee
  • Thirteen Republican-driven proposals are being advanced through Congress
  • D.C. leaders including Mayor Bowser and Attorney General Schwalb are issuing statements of opposition

Why it matters

  • This represents a fundamental challenge to democratic self-governance for over 700,000 taxpaying American citizens who already lack full congressional representation. The measures would systematically transfer local decision-making authority from elected D.C. officials to federal lawmakers who do not represent or answer to District residents. The specific policies being imposed—eliminating police accountability measures, reinstating cash bail, and allowing prosecution of younger children as adults—would disproportionately harm Black and economically disadvantaged communities while eroding constitutional protections like the presumption of innocence and due process rights.

What's next

  • No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The Washington Informer