Unlike other major American cities, the federal government’s footprint is everywhere in the nation’s capital.
Congress handles the city’s budget, and federal prosecutors command a bulk of its criminal justice system. Huge chunks of the city itself — from public parks and sidewalks to the medians and green spaces between streets and inside traffic circles — are under the federal government’s control. The capital is dotted with office buildings, military installations and other properties under federal control, woven into a city with a complicated governing structure shared with Congress and federal law enforcement.
