House GOP plans to intervene in Washington D.C. to push back against mayor's policies, combat crime

Crime is ‘running rampant’ in Washington DC: Ted Williams

Former D.C. Homicide Detective Ted Williams on Washington, D.C. seeing major spike in violent crimes by juveniles.

House Republicans are planning to use their power in Congress to push back against Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s policies that they say are hurting residents of the nation’s capital.

According to a Daily Caller report on Friday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member James Comer say they will use their congressional authority over local DC affairs to look into problems in the district and possibly implement changes if Republicans take control of the House in November.

DC Mayor Muriel Browser listens during a public safety briefing at the Marion S. Barry, Jr., Building in Washington, DC, on July 28, 2021.
(Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFPvia Getty Images)

“Simply put, D.C. is in crisis because of Democrats’ reckless policies. Oversight Committee Republicans have called on the D.C. mayor repeatedly to address the surge of homelessness and violent crime and to withdraw her unfair vaccine passport, but she has refused,” Comer said. “When Republicans are back in power in 2023, we will use tools at our disposal to hold the D.C. mayor accountable for implementing policies that are destroying Americans’ capital city.”

McCarthy echoed a similar statement arguing that Bowser has not done enough to combat crime in D.C.

Mayor Muriel Bowser conducts a news conference with to announce new traffic safety enhancements around schools at Van Ness Elementary School in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C., November 30, 2021.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“The rise in armed carjackings, murders, tent cities, and rampant drug use in our nation’s capital is a result of Democrats’ failed policies. This is all taking place under the leadership of a mayor that seems more interested in attending social events, appearing at Starbucks grand openings, masking kids in schools, and crushing small businesses with mandates,” McCarthy said. 

McCarthy added, “It is incomprehensible that Democrats continue to ignore the rising crime while pushing the very policies that have caused these disastrous conditions in D.C. and in major cities across America. If voters entrust Republicans with the majority, we will use our Congressional oversight powers to ensure that we work to restore the security and safety of this city.”

Additionally, Republican Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde of the House Oversight Committee told Daily Caller that he plans to put forward legislation that would repeal the 1973 District of Columbia Home Rule Act which would potentially put the federal government in control of the district.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., responds to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, about the behavior of Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and her repeated "anti-Muslim" attacks against Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“For years on end, the left has continuously demanded D.C. statehood, a politically motivated and wholly unconstitutional proposal that would radically revolutionize the balance of power in Congress to consolidate Democrats’ control over Americans’ lives. But beyond the conventional concerns, D.C.’s unseemly and declining status proves its leaders are unfit to properly maintain our nation’s capital,” Clyde said.

Mayor Bowser’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.

Washington, D.C. experienced a year of violence in 2021 that had not been seen in decades including a rise in homicides and a significant spike in carjackings which have tripled since 2019.

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