photo by angela n.
From the office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton:
“Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released a statement tonight after President Trump signed an anti-D.C. home rule executive order (EO) establishing a task force to combat crime by surging law enforcement officers in public areas, increasing immigration enforcement, changing D.C. pre-trial detention policies, expediting concealed carry licenses, and working on fare enforcement on the Metro system. The EO also created a program to allegedly “beautify” D.C. by restoring federal buildings, monuments and roadways, removing graffiti, and ensuring cleanliness of public spaces and parks. Additionally, the EO directed the National Park Service to clear homeless encampments and graffiti on federal lands.
“President Trump’s thoroughly anti-home rule EO is insulting to the 700,000 D.C. residents who live in close proximity to a federal government, which continues to deny them the same rights afforded to other Americans. The task force created by the EO would not include a single D.C. official to represent the interests of the people who reside within the District,” Norton said. “The Revolutionary War was fought to give consent to the governed and to end taxation without representation. President Trump’s rhetoric runs counter to this history. D.C.’s population is larger than that of two states. D.C. pays more federal taxes per capita than any state and pays more federal taxes than 21 states. D.C.’s gross domestic product is larger than that of 15 states. D.C. residents have fought and died in all this nation’s wars. We deserve statehood.
“The ‘Fact Sheet’ about the EO currently on the White House’s website states that crime in D.C. is ‘near historic highs.’ This simply isn’t true. It is contradicted by the Department of Justice, which noted on January 3 that violent crime was down 35% in 2024 and overall violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low.
“Like states, cities, and counties across the country, D.C. has passed laws to support and protect the safety of all its residents, regardless of immigration status. In passing these laws, D.C. followed its values and was convinced of the benefits for the entire city. Anyone watching can see plainly that the immigration provisions in the EO were motivated by President Trump’s longstanding antipathy for immigrants, not concern about law and order in the nation’s capital.
“Finally, the recently enacted CR omitted a longstanding provision to allow D.C. to continue spending under its local fiscal year 2025 budget, and instead forces the District to revert to spending at fiscal year 2024 levels for the remainder of the year. The CR will result in projected cuts of approximately $1 billion in its own locally raised funds through the end of September, which will force dramatic reductions in essential services the city provides, including those related to public safety. House Republicans did this intentionally and had time to correct the issue. If Republicans are concerned about public safety in the nation’s capital, they should not have passed a CR that cut D.C.’s funding, including for public safety purposes, halfway through the fiscal year.”
From the White House:
“Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Works to Make Our Nation’s Capital Safe and Beautiful
MAKING WASHINGTON THE GREATEST CAPITAL CITY IN THE WORLD: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to make Washington, D.C. what it should be—the pride of every American to whom it belongs.
The Executive Order establishes a task force, officially known as the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, that will be comprised of members of key government agencies.
The task force is directed to:
Surge law enforcement officers in public areas and strictly enforce quality-of-life laws in public areas like drug use, unpermitted demonstrations, vandalism, and public intoxication.
Maximize immigration enforcement to apprehend and deport dangerous illegal aliens, including monitoring D.C.’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Help D.C.’s forensic crime laboratory get accreditation.
Provide assistance to the D.C. Police Department in recruiting and retaining officers and boosting capabilities.
Keep dangerous criminals off the streets by strengthening pre-trial detention policies.
Expedite concealed carry licenses for law-abiding citizens.
Crack down on fare evasion and other crimes on the D.C. Metro system.
The Executive Order will also create a program to beautify Washington, D.C.:
This includes restoring and beautifying Federal buildings, monuments, statues, memorials, parks, and roadways, removing graffiti from commonly visited areas, and ensuring the cleanliness of public spaces and parks.
The National Park Service will rapidly clear all homeless encampments and graffiti on federal lands.
AMERICANS DESERVE A BETTER CAPITAL THAN TODAY’S WASHINGTON: Our nation’s capital, the only city that belongs to all of us, must be a symbol of pride for the American people and a safe location for public servants to do the people’s work. Today, because of failed policies, it’s not.
Crime is near historic highs, yet D.C. police force numbers recently reached a half-century low.
The left is touting modest decreases in D.C. crime in 2024, but they still represent a massive increase from earlier rates. In 2023, violent crime rose by 39 percent. Property crime rose by 24 percent.
This mirrors the spin they tried to put on “decreases” in the rate of inflation in recent years. Inflation is still up—and so is crime. And Americans are smart enough to notice.
For example, 2023 saw the highest number of homicides in the District since 1997.
The D.C. Metro Police Department needs at least 4,000 officers, yet has fewer than 3,500.
D.C.’s failed policies opened the door to disorder—and criminals noticed. Washington, DC:
Abandoned traditional pre-trial detention and effectively replaced it with ‘catch-and-release.’
Decriminalized marijuana.
Lets rioters run loose even if they vandalize property and assault police.
In 2022, the Biden U.S. Attorney for D.C. declined to prosecute 67% of arrested people who would have been tried in D.C. Superior Court.
The vacuum in law enforcement has created an environment that facilitates crime and blight, encourages homeless and vagrancy encampments, and jeopardizes public safety.
The D.C. crime lab remains partially unaccredited, creating a bottleneck for investigations. Federal authorities will assist with capacity so forensic work can resume and accreditation can be regained.
PRESIDENT TRUMP KEEPS HIS PROMISES: President Trump is following through on his promise to restore Washington, D.C. to glory by making the nation’s capital safe and beautiful once again.
On President Trump’s first return to Washington since leaving office in 2021, he lamented “the filth and the decay” that marred the nation’s capital in his absence.
President Trump later promised that his Administration would “take over the horribly run capital of our nation, Washington, D.C., and clean it up, renovate it, and rebuild our capital city so that it is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime, but rather it will become the most beautiful capital anywhere in the world.”