President Trump’s rapidly escalating push to exert control over law enforcement in Washington, D.C., has posed one of the biggest threats to the city’s self-governance since it was granted limited home rule by Congress in 1973.
The fight, which has now moved to the courts, touches not just who gives orders to the city’s police officers, but also the District’s tenuous autonomy.
What is home rule?
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 gave residents of the capital a limited form of self-governance for the first time since the 1800s. Before it, Congress and commissioners appointed by the president governed the city. And District residents — who had no representation in Congress — basically had no local elections to vote in, either.
Home rule gave D.C. residents the power to elect a mayor, a District of Columbia Council and local neighborhood commissioners. But it also imposed extensive congressional oversight over how those officials govern the city, including the laws and budgets they adopt. As a result, the federal government hovers over how local officials govern just about every aspect of life in the city.
The arrangement — unique to any city in America and originating in the Constitution’s provision for a federal “District” — has shifted some over time. For a period starting in the mid-1990s, a financial control board established by Congress managed the city’s finances. And the federal government has taken back control of some functions the city struggled to fund (given the limitations Congress itself put on revenue the city could raise). But the basic contours of government in D.C. have been set for half a century by home rule — or “limited home rule,” as locals more often describe it.
Who controls the police department under home rule?
The Metropolitan Police Department is controlled by Mayor Muriel Bowser of the District of Columbia, a Democrat, who appoints its police chief. The agency primarily functions as other municipal police departments do, although it also regularly supports the federal government. When the president travels around town in his motorcade, M.P.D. manages traffic. When large protests or events like inaugurations happen, M.P.D. officers help secure them (they also responded to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol).