It’s been almost a month since President Donald Trump federalized the police force in Washington, D.C., and deployed the National Guard and other agents to its streets. With tension building and more power struggles ahead, local leaders are heading to Capitol Hill to make their case.
But it won’t be easy. As House Republicans line up a broad range of bills that could roll back the District’s autonomy and crime policies, advocates have a tricky task — making the local seem universal, while also convincing lawmakers that D.C. is its own unique community, not a federal testing ground.
“What we’re asking for today is for all of Congress, but especially congressional Democrats, to vote down every single one of these anti-D.C. bills,” said Ankit Jain, one of D.C.’s two shadow senators. “And not just out of charity for the people of D.C., but as a necessary act of protection for their own constituents, because this is not stopping in D.C.”
