Republicans are licking their chops at the prospect that Senate Democrats will vote to block an extension of President Trump’s federalization of the Washington, D.C., police force, relishing a chance to tag their opponents as soft on crime.
Democrats have been angry over Trump’s move, which aligns with what they see as authoritarian impulses from the president. Democrats also widely back the Home Rule Act, which allows D.C.’s local government a form of self-rule.
But voting against an extension will definitely lead to attacks by Trump and other Republicans that Democrats are looking away from the problem of crime in cities — which are generally led by Democratic mayors.
“I am slack-jawed at how Democrats are sprinting into another trap set by Trump. This is so clear and yet they can’t help themselves,” said Matt Gorman, a GOP strategist. “Democrats love to quote studies and charts and academics to tell people they’re not feeling what they’re feeling and Republicans are contrasting that with action, and action is going to win every time.”
Democrats don’t appear to be all that worried about walking into a trap by voting against extending Trump’s power over the D.C. police.
“No f‑‑‑ing way,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in an interview Wednesday when asked about an extension.
“We’ll fight him tooth and nail. … He needs to get Congress to approve it, and not only are we not going to approve it, but there are some Republicans who don’t like it either,” Schumer said.
Republicans would need at least seven Democrats in the Senate to go along with the vote for the power to be extended.
Whether the measure to extend passes or fails, plenty of Republicans are eager for the vote, believing it will backfire on Democrats.
But Democrats say there are a number of reasons the vote won’t be that hard for their side.
“I don’t think it’s that hard of an issue — as long as you start by saying, ‘Crime is bad and we need to do more to stop crime,’” said Andrew Mamo, a Democratic operative.
“The smart Democrats out there are establishing credibility by starting there and then getting into [how] this is the wrong way to do it,” Mamo said. “We shouldn’t have the National Guard randomly stopping people in the streets. We should be funding our police departments and doing all the investments we know we need to do to keep communities safe.”
“The trap is when you don’t start by saying crime is bad, and you try to say, ‘Actually, there’s no problems here. Actually, people aren’t worried,’ and you do the same kind of explain-y stuff we failed out on the economy last cycle,” Mamo continued. “Then you can tie yourself into knots. But it shouldn’t be that hard for any Democrat to just say, ‘Crime is bad and we need to do more to stop crime.’”
Others say most voters just aren’t that focused on votes pertaining to local issues in Washington, D.C.
“Most Americans across the country do not feel any connection to the nation’s capital — most will never visit, and many don’t remember that beyond being the seat of government, more than a half-million citizens call the District home,” said John LaBombard, a Democratic operative at Rokk Solutions and an ex-aide to former Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).
“That dynamic prevents many everyday Americans from getting worked up about a federal takeover of policing in D.C. — but will probably also help shield lawmakers from criticism who vote against extended federal control.”
Polling suggests a large swath of D.C. residents — an overwhelmingly Democratic area — believe crime is an extremely or very serious problem.
According to a Washington Post-Schar School poll taken in May, 50 percent of respondents viewed crime as an extremely or very serious problem, down from 65 percent who did so two years ago when homicides and violent crimes were at their recent apex.
“Anyone who thinks crime isn’t a problem in D.C. is burying their head in the sand and suffers from serious Trump derangement syndrome,” said Jesse Hunt, a GOP operative who previously served as communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“The major problem that Democrats have is that … the crime, the carjackings, the muggings, the threats of violence, the assaults — while maybe not murder — is still spilling into professional areas. Lets be real, no one wants to pay an arm and a leg to go to Nats Park to watch a game when they’re concerned or not themselves and their children are going to be the victims of stray bullets at some metro stop nearby.”
Schumer has argued that Trump’s push to take over policing in Washington, D.C., is intended to distract from calls to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died awaiting federal trial on sex trafficking charges.
“This is, again, just a distraction. He’s afraid of Epstein,” Schumer continued. “He’s afraid of all that, and we are not going to give up on Epstein.”
The issue of crime in D.C. has been a problem for Democrats in the past.
Former President Biden two years ago blocked a crime bill the D.C. City Council was attempting to codify, citing concerns that it would scrap some mandatory minimum sentences, among other things. It led to criticisms that Biden was stepping on D.C. home rule.
Trump on Wednesday said that he is seeking a “long-term extension” of the federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). He also argued that he can extend that time span via a national emergency declaration.
“But we expect to be before Congress very quickly. And again, we think the Democrats will not do anything to stop crime, but we think the Republicans will do it almost unanimously,” Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center. “So we’re going to need a crime bill. That we’re going to be putting in, and it’s going to pertain initially to D.C. We’re going to use it as a very positive example”
“You can’t have 30 days,” he said. “We’re going to do this very quickly, but we’re going to want extensions. I don’t want to call a national emergency, but if I have to, I will.”
