The House on Tuesday approved two bills that would dramatically tighten how youth who commit crimes are prosecuted in the District of Columbia, part of a broader Republican push to assert congressional authority over the federal district.
Lawmakers passed the broader measure, titled the DC Crimes Act, 240-179. The bill would lower the age at which a youth offender can be treated as an adult in the district from 24 to 18 and would require that sentencing for those offenders be at least as long as mandatory minimums applied to adults. The measure also would require the D.C. attorney general to create a public website publishing statistics on youth criminal acts. A second measure, the D.C. Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act, passed 225-203. Thirty Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the DC Crimes Act, and eight Democrats backed the juvenile sentencing bill. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the lone Republican to oppose both bills.
Republican supporters framed the measures as a response to violent crime in the nation’s capital and said Congress has constitutional authority over the federal district. "These stricter guidelines will apply to serious crimes, including murder," said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, on the House floor. He argued that D.C.’s current definition of a juvenile is "seven years higher" than in other cities.
Democrats and criminal justice advocates called the bills an unprecedented intervention into local self-governance and criticized the timing and scope of the overhaul. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said President Donald Trump is "constantly attacking what Republicans used to call a small government" and warned the actions could be a precursor for similar interventions in other cities. Darby Hickey, senior policy counsel with DC Justice Lab, said Congress is "usurping our ability to make our own laws." Misty Thomas Zaleski, executive director of the Council for Court Excellence, urged lawmakers to rely on local expertise and pointed to a separate Republican proposal to replace the Judicial Nomination Commission with presidential appointees.
The push in the House comes as federal forces have had a high-profile presence in the city. Thousands of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers have patrolled Washington streets after an emergency order issued by the White House that has since lapsed. Republicans in Congress have applauded the intervention and have used it to criticize how the city is governed.
D.C. leaders and allies vowed to fight the measures in the Senate, where passage would likely require some Democratic votes. Ankit Jain, D.C.’s shadow senator, said advocates would "work aggressively to talk to Senate Democrats and make the case to them why they should vote no on these bills," warning that success could encourage Republicans to seek similar overrides of laws in other Democratic-led cities. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on Republican reductions to D.C.’s budget to be restored, saying the cuts "never should have been ripped away." Earlier this year, the House removed $1.1 billion from the city’s budget.
The legislation highlights the limits of home rule under the Home Rule Act of 1973, which allows Washington residents to elect a mayor and council but preserves Congress’s authority to review and override local laws and to control the district’s budget. The House is expected to take up two additional D.C. criminal justice-related bills on Wednesday.
Whether any of the measures will become law remains unclear. Legislation affecting the nation’s capital historically faces scrutiny in the Senate and from the White House, and the bills will be subject to political debate over federal oversight, local autonomy and criminal justice policy as they move forward.