5 days ago
GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Lee, renew threats to take over D.C. after DOGE staffer assault
Republican lawmakers are pushing President Donald Trump to take control of Washington, D.C., reiterating previous threats to federalize the nation's capital after a prominent ex-member of the Department of Government Efficiency was assaulted by teenagers over the weekend.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted to social media several times Tuesday evening pressing for the passage of his BOWSER Act, a bill to repeal local control over Washington, D.C., and place it under federal jurisdiction. The bill, named after Mayor Muriel Bowser, would overturn what is known as the D.C. Home Rule Act, which allows the city to operate as a self-governing entity.
'This attack on a young man who came to Washington to help fix America's government is simply the latest outrage in a series assaults and murders that have made our nation's capital a national embarrassment,' Lee told the Deseret News in a statement. 'We should pass my BOWSER Act, which revokes DC Home Rule, as well as bills preventing the DC Council from avoiding accountability through secret meetings. I will be working with my GOP colleagues and President Trump on every avenue possible to restore a safe, clean Washington Americans can be proud of.'
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., who leads the BOWSER Act in the House, similarly pushed for the bill's passage, telling the Deseret News he texted Trump on Tuesday evening 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.'
Trump in recent days has already reupped his threats to seize control of the district, citing the most recent attack of a government worker as evidence the city is 'totally out of control.'
The recent threats come after Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old famously known as 'Big Balls' online who became one of the most high-profile DOGE staffers earlier this year, was attacked by a group of 10 juveniles over the weekend, according to a D.C. police report obtained by the Deseret News.
Coristine was attacked during an attempted carjacking after he pushed his significant other into the car to protect her from the group. Police officers who observed the attack attempted to chase the juveniles and managed to arrest two 15-year-old suspects, both of whom reside in Maryland, according to police.
Trump posted about the attack on Tuesday, sharing a photo that showed a bloodied Corstine lying in the street, seemingly after the attack. The president decried the incident and called for a change in city law to charge minors as adults in cases of assault.
Trump claimed the teenagers are unafraid of law enforcement because 'they know nothing ever happens to them.'
'The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these 'minors' as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14,' Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. 'If D.C. doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they're not going to get away with it anymore.'
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.
It's not clear whether GOP leaders in Congress will prioritize efforts to pass legislation cracking down on D.C. autonomy. The Deseret News contacted the offices of both Speaker Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., for comment.
