Donald Trump enacts plans to take over D.C. police. Mike Lee wants him to go even further
Trump announced plans on Monday to federalize the D.C. police department, invoking a rarely used statute that allows the president to take control of the city's law enforcement on a temporary basis. The order would expire in 30 days unless explicitly extended by Congress.
Republicans praised Trump's decision, citing personal stories of juvenile crime and other attacks — claiming the executive order was needed to restore peace in the city. The order also marks the strongest action yet following through with Trump's desires to take control of the nation's capital and repeal its self-governance laws.
Lee has used the recent order to revive calls for the passage of his BOWSER Act, a bill to overturn local control over Washington, D.C., and place it under federal jurisdiction. The bill, named after Mayor Muriel Bowser, would revoke what is known as the D.C. Home Rule Act, which allows the city to operate as a self-governing entity.
'We have no other choice,' Lee wrote in an op-ed for The Spectator. 'The district's government has proven unable and unwilling to meet even the basic obligations of governance. It's gotten to the point where Washington is no longer merely a local embarrassment. To allow it to remain a showcase of crime, corruption and incompetence is an act of national self-harm.'
The latest threats highlight an ongoing challenge for D.C. officials, who have been working for months to crack down on rising rates of youth crime. Since the beginning of 2025, juveniles have made up more than 50% of arrests related to carjacking, according to D.C. police. A majority of those arrests are made up of teens who are 15 and 16 years old.
Bowser has acknowledged the recent trends, even going so far as to create a special police unit in April tasked with responding to juvenile crime. Curfew zones for the city's juveniles have also been put in place this week.
Lee pushes for more action to dismantle D.C. autonomy
While Trump has threatened for months to take control of D.C. entirely, his latest order does not quite meet that level. Instead, Lee is now pressing for a vote on his legislation that would place the district completely under congressional jurisdiction — and has even suggested returning some of D.C.'s land back to Maryland, preserving only a narrow strip of the city containing the White House, Capitol, and Supreme Court to be its own entity.
'This small federal enclave would remain under congressional control—allowing the centers of power in Washington to remain under exclusively federal control — while the rest of DC's residents would gain full voting rights and representation as Marylanders,' Lee said in a post on X. 'This solution would give DC residents what they deserve — state-level representation — without upending the Constitution or creating an anomalous micro-state. This approach would be practical, historical, and fair.'
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., who leads the BOWSER Act in the House, has similarly pushed for the bill's passage, telling the Deseret News he texted Trump last week about the legislation. Ogles said he also contacted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to remind him of his legislation, noting a vote on the matter 'needs to happen.'
It's not clear whether Trump will pursue legislative action to take control of the capital city. When asked if the president plans to work with Congress, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he is 'very much still interested' in addressing issues such as cashless bail and other public safety policies in D.C.
'Juvenile delinquency is another major problem in the city that Congress can address,' Leavitt said. 'I know Congress is on recess right now. When they get back to work in Washington, the president looks forward to having these conversations with our friends on Capitol Hill, so we can work with them to make D.C. safe and beautiful again.'
Trump's troop deployment underscores new strategy that 'will go further'
In the meantime, Trump has made clear he plans to utilize military action if needed to crack down on crime and homelessness in Washington, D.C., announcing this week that his administration would begin removing homeless people from their encampments across the city and taking them elsewhere.
Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that those who are removed from the encampments would be given the choice to be placed in a homeless shelter or other facilities — or else the individuals will face fines and possibly jail time if they do not remove themselves from the streets. Trump initially threatened in a post on Truth Social to move homeless people 'FAR from the Capital.'
When pressed on what that means, Leavitt said it's an option the administration is still exploring.
Trump also suggested D.C. is just the beginning of his efforts to crack down on crime in major cities, telling reporters on Monday that 'we're starting very strongly with D.C., and we're going to clean it up real quick.'
'We have other cities also that are bad, very bad. You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad,' Trump said. 'New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. … They're so far gone. We're not going to let it happen. We're not going to lose our cities over this. And this will go further.'
The deployment in D.C. comes after Trump similarly sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this year to quell protests against his administration's immigration policies. The new strategy marks a shift from his predecessors by using military deployments within U.S. borders.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air Canada cabin staff go on strike, grounding hundreds of flights
MONTREAL (Reuters) -Air Canada's unionized flight attendants walked off the job early on Saturday morning after contract talks with the country's largest carrier stalled, in a move that could disrupt travel plans for more than 100,000 passengers. The union representing more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants confirmed the action in a social media post at around 0100 ET in the first strike by cabin crew since 1985. Attendants are currently paid when the plane is moving and the union was seeking to also be compensated for time on the ground between flights and helping passengers board. Montreal-based Air Canada, which is expected to respond quickly by locking out the workers, has said it anticipated canceling 500 flights by the end of Friday during the busy summer travel season. It expected around 100,000 people to be affected on Friday alone. Flight attendants are likely on Saturday to picket at major Canadian airports, where passengers were already trying to secure new bookings earlier in the week, as the carrier gradually wound down operations. Passenger Freddy Ramos, 24, said on Friday at Canada's largest airport in Toronto that his earlier flight was cancelled due to the labor dispute and he had been rebooked by Air Canada to a different destination. "Probably 10 minutes prior to boarding, our gate got changed and then it was cancelled and then it was delayed and then it was cancelled again," he said. Air Canada and its low-cost affiliate Air Canada Rouge normally carry about 130,000 customers a day. Air Canada is also the foreign carrier with the largest number of flights to the U.S. While the dispute has generated support from passengers on social media for the flight attendants, Canadian businesses reeling from a trade dispute with the United States urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration on both sides, which would end the strike. Air Canada has asked the minority Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney to order both sides into binding arbitration although the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the attendants, said it opposed the move. The Canada Labour Code gives Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu the right to ask the country's Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration in the interests of protecting the economy. Hajdu has repeatedly urged the two sides, which are not bargaining, to return to the table. The union has said Air Canada offered to begin compensating flight attendants for some work that is now unpaid but only at 50% of their hourly rate. The carrier had offered a 38% increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year, which the union said was insufficient. In a note to clients on Friday, analysts at financial services firm TD Cowen urged the carrier to "extend an olive branch to end the impasse," adding that investors are worried that any cost savings on labor are outweighed by lost earnings in the airline's most important quarter. "We think it would be best for AC to achieve labor peace," the note said. "Not budging on negotiations risks being a Pyrrhic victory." Sign in to access your portfolio
CBS News
28 minutes ago
- CBS News
Mom demands change after 5-year-old son wanders off from Fairfield school
A Fairfield mother said her worst nightmare was realized Wednesday when she went to pick up her child from his first day at Cleo Gordon Elementary School, and to her surprise, he was not there. Corinna Goode-Lavern says her 5-year-old son Tristan was not among the group of students waiting for their parents when she pulled in to pick him up. The children were not behind the gate, but standing on the parking lot sidewalk with their teacher. "It's scary to know our littles aren't safe at school," Goode-Lavern said. She says the teacher told her they did not know where her son was and would have to check the cameras to see if he even walked out with them. Goode-Lavern says she started frantically searching for her son across the school's campus with help from one of the front office workers. After having no luck finding him, Goode-Lavern turned her attention to the busy E. Tabor Avenue just in front of the school. "I actually had a panic attack in the car searching for him. My thoughts were, my son is gone forever. Where could he have gone? A five-year-old wandering, someone is going to pick him up or worse, someone is going to hit him," Goode-Lavern said. She called her husband in a panic. As it turns out, Goode-Lavern says that Tristan got scared while waiting for her to pick him up. He walked away from the pickup line and all the way home, a 12-minute walk. While she was driving through the neighborhood, a familiar face brought good news. "My local mailman actually stopped me and said, 'Hey, I seen your child walking, he is safe on your porch.' My son walked 8 long blocks across 7 streets alone as a 5-year-old. And nobody knew," she said. "When I got to him and he was crying, he said, 'Mommy, I looked both ways before I crossed.' " Goode-Lavern says the mailman made sure her son Tristan sat on the front porch and opened his lunch box to get him a snack. While he was running his route he was keeping an eye on the child, about to call 911. "I was like, 'I appreciate you so much. You made sure my son was safe and nobody else could do that for us,' " Goode-Lavern said. She said she confronted the district on Thursday, demanding change and ultimately pulled her child from the school. She feels there was not enough urgency by the staff or her child's teacher when it was discovered he was missing. Tristan will start at a different school within the district on Monday, but Goode-Lavern says she is working to get him moved out of the district entirely. In a statement, Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District leaders told CBS13: "Students' safety and well-being is always our top priority. We are aware of the incident involving a kindergarten student at Cleo Gordon on the first day of school. While the student was safely reunited with their family, this should not have occurred. District officials met with the family to discuss the incident. The school reviewed the circumstances and immediately updated its dismissal procedures, providing additional guidance for staff to reinforce protocols. We are taking this matter very seriously. Out of respect for the privacy of the student and family, we cannot provide any more details at this time." When asked what changes exactly were being implemented, the district gave this response: "Cleo Gordon Elementary has refined its dismissal procedures for kindergarten students to further support an orderly and safe end to the school day. Staff continue to use clipboards to confirm authorized pick-up, and now students remain behind the gates with staff until their guardian arrives. Parents and guardians park and meet students at the gates, rather than having the kindergarteners walk out to the pick-up area. These updates build on existing safety practices for our youngest learners."
CBS News
28 minutes ago
- CBS News
Rochester woman receives stayed sentence for role in murder of man whose remains were found in tote
A 24-year-old woman has been sentenced for her role in the murder of an Isle, Minnesota, man whose partial remains were found in a tote in 2023, according to court records filed on Friday. Alexis Elling, of Rochester, Minnesota, was given a 57-month sentence for aiding an offender, accomplice after the fact, which will be stayed for five years. According to the sentencing order, Elling will be on probation for those five years, and at least 2/3 of that sentence must be spent in prison. She pleaded guilty to the charge in February 2024. On March 21, 2023, public works employees in Kathio Township, Minnesota, near Mille Lacs Lake, found a tote bound with bungee cords and industrial tape that had human remains inside. The remains were later identified as 25-year-old Rodney Pendegayosh Jr., of Isle, Minnesota. Pendegayosh's parents had reported him missing the day before the tote was found. According to charges, Elling's then-boyfriend, Bradley Allen Weyaus, of Isle, contacted Elling's roommate for a ride on March 19, 2023. When the roommate arrived at the home that Weyaus asked her to meet him at, Weyaus and Elling removed the tote from the residence and put it into the roommate's vehicle. When contacted by police, Elling allegedly admitted that, while she did not help place Pendegayosh's body in the container, she did help move it, knowing that his body was inside. Charges say she also admitted to moving a gun case, and said that a fake fingernail that was found inside the tote belonged to her. Charges say shortly after the tote was discovered on March 21, an investigator driving to the scene observed a white Saturn, similar to one associated with Weyaus, 21, heading in the same direction. He refused to pull over for the investigator and allegedly drove away at a high rate of speed. Law enforcement later located the vehicle at a rural property with several buildings near Southport Road in Mille Lacs County, according to court documents. Police say a resident of the property told officers the car had been driven by Weyaus. Officers arrested Weyaus, who had been hiding in one of the buildings on the property, and allegedly recovered two duffel bags containing a hammer, a hacksaw and industrial tape consistent with the tape on the tote. Charges say investigators allegedly found several items in the trash of a home Weyaus had been staying at, including pieces of carpet with what appeared to be blood stains on them and Pendegayosh's identification card cut into two pieces. Inside Weyaus' vehicle, police say they discovered a spent shotgun shell. Pendegayosh's throat area contained "several pellets of a type found in buckshot shotgun shells." Weyaus was sentenced in July 2025 to more than 25 years in prison for second-degree murder. Officials have said that the motive for the murder had to do with Elling's brother and Pendegayosh's alleged involvement in his fentanyl overdose earlier in 2023. The video above originally aired on March 28, 2023.
