U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is defending President Donald Trump’s latest order, aimed at restoring law and order in Memphis, Tennessee, pointing out that the city’s crime rate is 344% above the national average.

The  White House yesterday issued a Presidential Memorandum that spelled out the dire situation in Memphis and noting that, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in 2024 the city had the highest rate of violent crime per capita.

The memorandum specifies that local authorities in Memphis are overwhelmed by some of the highest per capita rates of murder, robbery, and aggravated assault, and property crimes such as burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft, in the country.

In a post on X, Johnson affirmed that “Republicans are committed to restoring safety for the AMERICAN PEOPLE. In D.C.” and suggested that violent crime there “dropped nearly 40%” thanks to the president’s efforts.

The president’s memorandum for Restoring Law and Order In Memphis establishes a Memphis Safe Task Force “whose objective shall be to end street and violent crime in Memphis to the greatest possible extent through the promotion and facilitation of hypervigilant policing, aggressive prosecution, complex investigations, financial enforcement, and large-scale saturation of besieged neighborhoods with law enforcement personnel.”

The Task Force, which will work closely with state and local officials, will include representatives from the Department of the Treasury; the Department of War; the Department of Justice; the Department of Health and Human Services; the Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Department of Transportation; the Department of Homeland Security; the United States Marshals Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Homeland Security Investigations; and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.

The latest presidential order borrows from the strategies and principles utilized in two earlier executive orders issued in March and August of this year to address crime in Washington D.C.

Speaker Johnson wrote that, “This can and should serve as a model for the nation,” adding, “LAW & ORDER WORKS. LAW & ORDER WINS.”