WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., and more recently even New York City after the Democratic primary victory of socialist Zohran Mamdani. Part of this attack goes beyond only a racist move against Latinos and African Americans.
President Trump is now, for example, conditioning a deal to return the Washington Commanders to RFK Stadium in the district but also the restoration of its former racist name depicting the indigenous peoples of America.
In addition to verbal threats, there has been federal encroachment on the district in several ways that slowly chip away at local autonomy. For example, there have been multiple reports in the past few months of Black, Latino and other D.C. residents being arrested for minor infractions like smoking marijuana in federal parks.
The District of Columbia is home to 700,000-plus tax-paying residents with no federal representation and has colonial-like oversight from Congress. There are over 30 different police departments operating in the city, making meaningful community input into policing very difficult without more local autonomy and control.
Many of the parks frequented by D.C. residents are not D.C. property and are subject to federal law which, unlike local law, continues to criminalize personal use of marijuana. Unlike what is happening in federal parks in D.C. now, U.S. Park Police have long ignored use of marijuana on their grounds.
It has also been noted by local mutual aid and migrant solidarity organizations that immigrants have been arrested on federal park property by park police and then transferred over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Executive Order 14252
Trump signed Executive Order 14252 in March of 2025 and designated federal agencies and enforcement to crack down on crime, substance abuse, homeless encampments, fare evasion, and immigration status. Since then, there has been a more active federal police presence in the district — particularly of U.S. Park Police and Transit Police. Recently, there was a major encroachment by U.S. Park Police at Logan Circle Park where several people, mostly African Americans, were arrested for having open containers of alcohol and possession of marijuana. White park goers who were doing the same were not detained or cited.
“Beautification” efforts are not necessarily new. Presidential-appointed city commissioners going back to the pre-Home Rule days have also used similar approaches. This includes the likes of James McMillan’s beautification of the National Mall and construction of parks.
But, with the ilk of Trump and MAGA, their “beautification” efforts end up displacing and criminalizing more African Americans under the guise of “fighting crime,” deporting immigrants and pushing to remove a Black Mayor and Democratic control of the district. Violent crime is down in the district by nearly 40%, compared to a year ago.
Trump takes over planning commission
In addition to the “beautification” overreach, Trump appointed his people to the National Planning Commission. This commission governs construction projects around the district and their designs. The newly Trump-appointed commissioners are using their roles to undermine the Federal Reserve, led by Jerome Powell, for not heeding their calls to lower interest rates.
The new appointees have no expertise or background in construction or architecture. But their role now gives them a direct say and seat at the desk of the redevelopment of the RFK Stadium, Capital One Arena, and federal agency buildings potentially up for sale. There is a chance that D.C. residents and outside visitors will now see more displays of MAGA fascism in this area.
DOJ threatens D.C. mayor over alleged antisemitism
After two Israeli Embassy staffers were murdered in D.C., residents involved with the Palestine solidarity movement were concerned about a major crackdown on free speech and protest rights. Trump-nominated D.C. interim prosecutor and former Fox News host, Jeanine Pirro, has vowed to use the death penalty as her arsenal to fend off any further D.C. demonstrations against the genocide in Gaza.
The person in charge of the Justice Department’s Antisemitism Task Force, Leo Terrell, slammed D.C. and its mayor on X (formerly known as Twitter) for its supposed “lukewarm” response to antisemitism in the district. He also falsely claimed there were “Jewish taxes” levied against synagogues, Jewish rabbis, and institutions for having to increase security costs.
This same task force is also responsible for the extreme attacks on public universities—particularly for the Palestine solidarity student encampment movement from Spring of 2024 and for instituting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
As we have seen from his task force already, Terrell has been focused on criminalizing anyone speaking out against the genocide in Gaza, even going as far as using Zionist doxxing website the Canary Mission to target activists. Community leaders in D.C. know that Terrell’s overtures against the Mayor and local universities do nothing to combat antisemitism.
A better approach would be to call for a stop to using taxpayer dollars to fund a genocidal war and starve a population to death in order to keep the right wing in power in Israel. The D.C. government should have long ago passed a ceasefire resolution calling for an end to the massacres and destruction of Gaza and should now be joining demands for a cessation of the sending of all military weapons to Israel. Without U.S. weaponry the genocide going on there would be impossible.
Threats to strip emergency legislation from Home Rule Act
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has been one of the most vocal members of Congress on removing D.C.’s right to self-governance. From the failed BOWSER Act attempting to fully repeal the Home Rule Act to several instances pushing to destroy Black Lives Matter Plaza, Lee is now introducing a bill to change parts of the Home Rule Act.
This bill will pave the way for Congress to pass a disapproval resolution to block emergency legislation enacted by the local D.C. government. As law currently stands, the D.C. government can pass emergency legislation which can last for 90 days without congressional approval.
Normal legislation, including the budget, has a Congressional review period after it passes the D.C. Council and is signed by the Mayor. Sen. Lee is now trying to make this process more bureaucratic in order to slow down even temporary legislation.
In the House, MAGA Republican Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) will be joining Sen. Lee by proposing similar legislation. The MAGA members of Congress claim this is in response to the Council passing legislation earlier this year creating closed door meetings on certain legislative matters, angering many residents. The Republicans don’t care for transparency, they just want to exploit splits on local matters to have an excuse to pass fascist legislation to remove D.C.’s self-government.
MAGA budget riders undermine D.C. laws
Finally, every time a Congressional budget passes, Republicans typically add “riders” to undermine or significantly rollback local D.C. laws. Historically this has been used to cut funding for reproductive rights, and marijuana legalization. Now, Republicans want to allow gun owners to be able to carry weapons onto the Metro trains and buses, cut traffic enforcement policy like no turn on red and traffic cameras, remove the 2022 law that allows noncitizen residents to vote in local elections, remove the 2022 police reform bill, cut funds to gender-affirming care and many more harmful line items.
D.C.’s lone nonvoting delegate in the Congress, Rep. Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.), stated that she is “outraged at the number and scope of anti-D.C. home rule riders in this bill … I have rarely seen a bill as unreasonable and patronizing to more than 700,000 people who live in the nation’s capital as this one.”
D.C. home rule defense organizations and campaigns like Free D.C. are actively fighting against all these federal encroachments on D.C.’s local affairs. D.C. residents and supporters of D.C.’s democracy and its eventual admittance as a state in the union should support and participate in actions being led to stop these fascist attacks.
CONTRIBUTOR
