GOP lawmakers seek to repeal DC's Home Rule Act

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill Thursday aimed at repealing the District of Columbia's Home Rule Act, citing the mayor and city council's "failure to prevent violent crime, corruption, and voting by non-citizens."

The Home Rule Act of 1973 enabled residents of the district to elect a mayor and a 13-member council and delegated certain powers to the district's local government.

Exercising its plenary legislative authority over D.C. granted by Article 1, Section 8, clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress still reviews all legislation passed by the D.C. Council before it can become law and retains authority over the district's budget. Additionally, the president appoints the district's judges, and D.C. is barred from having voting representation in Congress.

Lee and Ogles evidently figure that even with Congress serving as a check, D.C. still cannot be trusted to manage its own affairs.

'Bowser and her corrupt Washington City Council are incapable of managing the city.'

After all, the city currently run by Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser saw 3,469 violent crimes last year, including 187 homicides, and 25,879 property crimes. Already this year, there have been at least 21 homicides. D.C. has a rating of 2 on Neighborhood Scout's crime index, where 100 is safest.

Lee and Ogles indicated that the D.C. Council's passage of the Revised Criminal Code Act, "which stripped away penalties for crimes," is among the local decisions that helped set the stage for the lawlessness from which the district now suffers.

Corruption is also a major problem in the district.

For instance, just last week, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to expel one of is own, anti-Semitic council member Trayon White (D). White was arrested by the FBI in August and has been accused of taking over $150,000 in kickbacks in exchange for allegedly extending two companies' contracts valued at over $5 million.

"The corruption, crime, and incompetence of the D.C. government has been an embarrassment to our nation's capital for decades," stated Lee, who has long advocated for ending D.C. home rule. "It is long past time that Congress restored the honor and integrity of George Washington to the beautiful city which bears his name."

"Bowser and her corrupt Washington City Council are incapable of managing the city," said Ogles. "As such, it seems appropriate for Congress to reclaim its Constitutional authority and restore the nation's Capital."

The Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident Act, the acronym for which matches the last name of the district's Democratic mayor, would repeal the Home Rule Act one year after the passage of the bill.

Already, Democrats and other leftists are having a conniption.

The ACLU chapter for the district said in a statement Friday, "D.C. residents, the majority of whom are people of color, have frequently been subject to congressional override of local policies, and this latest federal overreach intensifies that long-standing injustice."

Ankit Jain, the shadow U.S. Senate delegate for D.C., said, "I question whether members of Congress want to take responsibility for governing a city with the size and importance of Washington, D.C. I urge the people of D.C. to join us in this fight and show Congress just how strongly we oppose this authoritarian power-grab."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!