Federalizing DC
Everyone wants to fiddle with DC. The left wants to make it a state, or many states, since it is almost 100% Democrat and could easily tip the balance of Congressional power to the Democrats. Trump wants to federalize it, undoing what was done in 1973 (which totally escaped my notice at that time).
The Constitution, in Article 1 Section 8, directs Congress to “exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States.”
The idea was that the seat of government should be a neutral zone, one not dominated by any state or party, dedicated to the running of the government.
Instead of a local government or legislature, the district was to be governed by Congress. …
First, the passage of the 23rd Amendment in 1961 gave the district the right to be represented in presidential elections.
In 1973, when Congress passed a “home rule” law, the district became a self-governing municipality with its own elected officials, prosecutors and courts.
I never heard of it, and I was an adult at the time. More background here:
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is a United States federal law passed on December 24, 1973, which devolved certain congressional powers of the District of Columbia to local government, furthering District of Columbia home rule. In particular, it includes the District Charter (also called the Home Rule Charter), which provides for an elected mayor and the Council of the District of Columbia. …
Under the “Home Rule” government, Congress reviews all legislation passed by the council before it can become law and retains authority over the District’s budget. Also, the President appoints the District’s judges, and the District still has no voting representation in Congress. Because of these and other limitations on local government, many citizens of the District continue to lobby for greater autonomy, such as complete statehood.
So it used to be completely federalized and it’s still semi-federalized. Make DC Great Again?
Trump’s stated motive is the rampant crime in DC:
President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to federalize Washington, D.C., calling for local minors and gang members over the age of 14 to be prosecuted as adults, after a famed former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee was allegedly beaten in the nation’s capital.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said local youth and gang members are “randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released.”
I’m not sure there will be any follow-through on this, but it seems to me it would be up to Congress.
Everyone wants to . . .
How if everyone pauses to consider the founders’ understanding of power (and consequently enabling freedoms) embodied in their structuring of the Federal District? Seems too little considered by our contemporaries.
Originally, Maryland was also supposed to give up land to create the federal district. As it now sits, I’d prefer seeing D.C. revert to the control of Virginia, with just a separate campus for the area of federal buildings, under the control of Congress and the President.
The condition of DC was notably worse 30 years ago than it is today. Still, the performance of its political class has been unimpressive. It’s a story which has been replicated 100x since 1967.
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A more salient problem of late is that the Democratic caucus in Congress has wanted to use DC as a senator farm. It’s a fragment of a metropolitan settlement which in sum has 6x its population and it has a smaller population than Montgomery County (Md), Prince George’s County (Md), and Fairfax County (Va.), other components of greater Washington. It is nothing like any other geographic unit represented in Congress. (They’d receive a floor vote in the House if the territory were retroceded, less consequential than the committee vote they already have). About the Senate, partisan Democrats complain it has more people than Vermont and Wyoming, neglecting that the ratio of DC’s population to that of Vermont and that of Wyoming has been dropping at such a pace that both states might surpass DC’s population in a decade or so (as has happened in re a dozen other states since 1950).
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If Maryland will not consent to a retrocession, there’s a scrum of adjustments you can make. One is to replace the public school system in the city with voucher distribution. Another is to conclude an agreement with Maryland wherein DC residents will receive in-state tuition at Maryland state schools in return for an annual tribute payment and the transfer of the property of UDC to the State of Maryland. Another is to end collective bargaining for public employees of the local government. A third is to place the militia, police, jails, and prisons under the command of a federal official rather than the locals. Another is to set mean compensation for DC employees at a particular fraction of employee compensation per worker in greater Washington. Another is to impose a disciplinary system on DC employees which allows them to be readily dismissed. Another is to impose a serious examination system on DC for the recruitment and promotion of public employees.
I’d prefer seeing D.C. revert to the control of Virginia,
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Virginia’s contribution to the District of Columbia was retroceded in 1844. What remains was contributed by Maryland. The Potomac is as good a state boundary as any.
”Originally, Maryland was also supposed to give up land to create the federal district.”
Maryland did give up land to create the federal district. As it now sits, *all* of the land in the District is from Maryland.
”…I’d prefer seeing D.C. revert to the control of Virginia…”
Virginia never had control of the land that is now in the District. Why would you want to give Maryland’s land to Virginia?
Personally, I’d like to see the District take back over all of Virginia’s land that it once had. It should never have given that land up.
It would be agreeable if Puerto Rico were granted at least notional sovereignty and the American citizenship held by those native to Puerto Rico replaced with local citizenship.
Puerto Rico has the best of both worlds as they are. I wish I ever understood why it was set up that way. They do not pay Federal income tax. They do collect Social Security and Medicaid. They are US citizens and can move to the mainland whenever they wish.
The Dems will whine and cry, but Home Rule has failed. Crime is out of control. The public schools are horrible. I agree with Trump 100%.
Having spent a few years living in and around the District of Columbia, it is my opinion the current situation does not work well for the residents of the District or the many USG employees who work there daily. Crime is a constant, municipal services are poor, and the educational system is abysmal.
This is not a new situation: some readers will remember Marion Barry, a previous mayor who in 1990 was busted on drug charges. At his trial he testified “the b*tch made me do it.” He later had a woman visit him in jail where they were caught in flagrante delicto in the general visiting area.
Having served in the Foreign Service, I knew a number of diplomats who tried to avoid being stationed to D.C. And for some foreign governments, assignment to our capital came with an allowance that we usually only received when we were assigned to Third World countries.
@F: he testified “the b*tch made me do it.”
Not quite. He was videotaped during his arrest saying “b*tch set me up”.
Elected to a fourth term after that, in 1995. Hundreds attended his 2014 funeral and the 2016 installation of a monument. Street in Anacostia was named after him in 2023.
Hear me out: the seat of the federal government should be in the geographical center of the country (the lower 48 is fine). Now, I don’t mean it should be in the city closest to the geographical center. The actual geographical center. If they have to set up tents for a while, that’s fine.
It’s ridiculous that our country is run from the spot where some of the first immigrants landed in the 17th century. Despite the advent of transportation and the internet, it would be more American to place the government closer to all of the people and not foster a political class ensconced in a city.
While that’s happening, arrest all the criminals in Washington and throw them in jail. For a change.
Thanks for the correction, Niketas. I should not trust my memory for details like that.
They could return control of all but the immediate Federal building area to Maryland — but that wouldn’t solve the crime problem. Just look at Baltimore. Rescinding the Home Rule Act and returning the District to federal control would be a better idea. I think this would require an act of Congress. Representatives and senators have to be tired enough of the danger to themselves and their staffs to approve it.
Puerto Rico has the best of both worlds as they are.
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No, their social development has been harmed by features of their relationship to the mainland. For starters, they have the lowest employment-to-population ratio in the occidental world. It’s most amazing.
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What’s curious about our country is that our people build very productive private enterprise but everything done in the public sector is done with the left hand. You can see that in spades when you look at our insular dependencies.
They could return control of all but the immediate Federal building area to Maryland — but that wouldn’t solve the crime problem. Just look at Baltimore. Rescinding the Home Rule Act and returning the District to federal control would be a better idea.
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No point in retaining any part of it if you’re going to retrocede and its only a ‘better idea’ if you have a federal administration committed to suppressing crime.
Mitchell:
I nominate Omaha, NE as the seat of the federal government.
Crime is a constant, municipal services are poor, and the educational system is abysmal.
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You can draw a line down the middle of it. About 90% of the homicides are south and east of that line. Greater Washington is like any other city in America. The resultant of the vectors in operation is that there are only half-assed efforts to suppress crime and school disorder in slum neighborhoods. The great achievement of the Giuliani-Bloomberg years in New York was showing it could be done. You can see how public attitudes have evolved in the last 15 years in New York. It’s as if improving the quality of life generates mass frivolity.
Remember who was president in 1973? They hated him like Trump, but domestically he was a (moderate) Democrat.
@F: he testified “the b*tch made me do it.”
Not quite. He was videotaped during his arrest saying “b*tch set me up”.
Saw the actual vid online years ago. FBI had the woman insist he smoke crack before sex. He was there only for the sex. After turning the crack down several times, he relented, took a hit, and was immediately busted.
No sex. It was a set up.
But, def not the first time he smoked crack.
The Dems will whine and cry, but Home Rule has failed. Crime is out of control. The public schools are horrible. I agree with Trump 100%.
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We run the numbers, we discover that home rule has failed in most core cities. There are apposite responses to that, but that would require Republican politicians be something other than Chamber-of-Commerce dullards and for Republican voters to take an interest in an unfamiliar idea. Fat chance.
I’m not sure there will be any follow-through on this, but it seems to me it would be up to Congress.
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Congress never follows through on anything other than tossing swag around.
A now-extraneous fact: when William Donald Schaefer was Governor of Maryland [1987–1995], he offered to retrocede substantially all of the Maryland side of D.C. (which was essentially all of D.C.), except for The Mall and the federal buildings area, back to Maryland.
D.C. turned up its nose at the idea. There was effectively zero support for the idea. There were miscellaneous historical and cultural reasons for the turned-up nose, but giving up power had to be a yuuge reason for the turned-up nose.
Note — I was a resident of D.C. (southwest sector) from 1976 to 1983.
(Schaefer was an unusual fellow, something of a maverick. For example, in the 1992 presidential election, Democrat Governor Schaefer endorsed Republican President George H. W. Bush over Democrat challenger Bill Clinton.)
It never was ment to be a state, And of course tje Democrats want it to be to be another Democrat run state.
D.C. turned up its nose at the idea.
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Who is DC?
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They should not be given a choice. The territory belongs to Maryland and the urban settlement has expanded well beyond the borders of the District. The concerns which gave rise to the District are anachronisms. Maryland has 24 counties; why should the District have more autonomy than a county in Maryland?
I knew very little of this.
I have been saying for a while this country needs to be executing several thousand criminals a year just to restore order. And 16 year olds should be tried as adults for serious crimes.
Mitchell Strand on August 6, 2025 at 4:25 pm said:
“… the seat of the federal government should be in the geographical center of the country (the lower 48 is fine). Now, I don’t mean it should be in the city closest to the geographical center. The actual geographical center.”
But if you look at the geographical distribution of the population, perhaps 60-70% is East of the Mississippi. On that basis, the Capital should probably be relocated to somewhere near Nashville or Louisville. We also now have so much experience using the Eastern Time Zone as DC ground zero, moving DC westwards would also upset that arrangement.
“… the seat of the federal government should be in the geographical center of the country (the lower 48 is fine.)”
I like it!
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On that basis, the Capital should probably be relocated to somewhere near Nashville or Louisville.
I prefer Cornhead’s Omaha. And leaving the Eastern Time Zone behind.
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“… arrest all the criminals in Washington and throw them in jail.”
What a concept!
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I also remember what happened to Nixon.
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Hear hear! I could go for 14 and up. The urban Fagins use these Artful Dodgers to do their dirty work!
I tried to remark yesterday that I wrongly said Virginia when I meant Maryland, but my basic remark still holds. Remand D.C. proper to Maryland, establish a small federal campus containing the necessary buildings and keep that under control of the President and Congress. For some reason, this server refused to allow me to post again yesterday.
The founders understood that those in the capital city would fervently wish for more power for the central government at the expense of the rest of the country.
We forgot that truism of human nature when we gave DC residents the vote and self-rule.
Besides the city government look at the federal DC judges. That’s something else that needs fixing by spreading the case load to other parts of the country where supporting a bigger central government isn’t in their self-interest.
The population center of the United States is currently to be found at a spot east of Springfield, Missouri.
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I’m content with the seat of government where it is.
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What I think we would benefit from is a federal government which stays in its lane. That means no more grants to private corporations (commercial or philanthropic) bar for disaster relief, no more grants to local government apart from (1) disaster relief and (2) payment-in-lieu-of-taxes on federal real estate; no more grants to state and territorial government and affiliates other than (1) disaster relief, (2) distribution of toll collections on long-haul Interstates, (3) distribution of payroll tax revenues to finance unemployment compensation, (4) distributions to finance Medicaid (for an interim period), and (5) a formulaic general revenue sharing grant biased toward impecunious jurisdictions; that means foreign aid programs which emphasize direct service provision by public employees, provision of equipment, and credits to buy equipment; and that means a policy of being very selective about which intergovernmental organizations we join.
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It also means limiting federal welfare spending to (1) foreign aid, (2) domestic disaster relief, (3) veterans benefits, (4) miscellaneous subsidies for niche clientele, (5) Medicare, (6) Medicaid, (7) unemployment compensation, (8) Social Security, and (9) Supplemental Security Income. Toast everything else.
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It also means that federal regulatory authority is limited to transactions or operations which cross jurisdictional lines (e.g. state borders and the international frontier). That means persons traveling over borders, merchandise shipped over borders, services contracted for by persons domiciled in different jurisdictions, funds transferred from one place to another, services provided specifically for travelers, labor relations and occupational safety in companies which have boots on the ground in multiple jurisdictions, and environmental systems which transcend jurisdictional boundaries.
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It also means that federal policing and prosecution is limited to a precisely-defined menu of concerns and that technical assistance to local law enforcement is provided by federal authorities only when it is requisitioned by the state police. Remember Jared Fogle? Remember the guy who shot up a synagogue in Pittsburgh? Remember Randy Weaver? All three cases should have been handled by local police and prosecutors with assistance as needed from state police.
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It also means that the federal tax code is not riddled with preferences for well-connected economic sectors.
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There are architectural adjustments which might help: (1) require candidates for Congress be between 39.0 and 72.0 years of age on the date of the election and require those for President to be between 60.0 years and 72.0 years; (2) have a rotation-in-office rule for members of Congress which states that if you’ve sat in Congress for 14 of the last 16 years or will hit that wall in a prospective term, you have to stand down and have the same rule for the Presidency; (3) have the House (along with the President) elected by the public for four year terms on the 1st year of a quadrennial cycle and have the Senate elected for four year terms by state legislatures on the 3d year of a quadrennial cycle; (4) debar former members of Congress from maintaining a residence or working in an establishment located in the local jurisdictions around the Potomac, those who represented those places in Congress excepted; (5) require federal judges be a minimum of 39.0 years of age at the time they are confirmed and require they retire completely at age 76; (6) make it the law that no lawyer may be employed by the Department of Justice (or a successor service) for more than 12 years in any bloc of 14 and that no one may hold the position of U.S. Attorney, Assistant Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, Deputy Attorney-General, or Attorney-General for more than four years in any bloc of six; (7) make it the law that no one may hold a discretionary position in the federal executive for more than 12 years in any bloc of 14 other than inspectors-general; (8) require that recruitment and promotion for all non-discretionary federal employees be regulated by examinations; (9) limit discretionary positions to flag-rank officers, confidential staff, employees of the President’s office, US Attorneys, federal bureau chiefs, members of boards and commissions, subcabinet appointments, cabinet secretaries, and inspectors-general; (10) require that all salaried line employees in inspectors-general’s offices and audit-and-control inspectorates be over the age of 55 and remain in place until they elect to retire from federal employment; (11) limit the acquisition of early retirement credits among federal employees to the Armed Services, uniformed police, and hands-on construction workers; (12) allow the President if he convenes a public hearing and signs a letter of dismissal to discharge any federal employee of the executive branch; (13) provide in law that any civilian federal employee may be dismissed if three persons in his chain of command countersign a letter so doing; (14) provide in law for post-termination reviews for federal employees where the terminated employee may seek an indemnity and seek the initiation of proceedings against his superiors if he can demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that he was terminated for one of a half-dozen ignoble reasons; (15) require that each federal employee receive a ‘stated compensation’ and that their benefits be financed entirely out of levies on that stated compensation, levies noted as withheld on their pay stubs; (16) institute defined contribution retirement plans for all federal employees; (17) set mean-compensation-per-worker in federal employment at a level roughly similar to that in the private sector; (18) provide veterans benefits as supplementary to federal employee benefits but do so for no other category of federal employee; (20) debar for a term of years equal to their time on the federal payroll quondam federal employees from working for lobbying firms, working for law firms with a ‘government relations’ practice, and from working for firms which have had more than $x in sales to federal agencies over the previous six years; (21) make it a parliamentary rule that committee members, floor leaders, and whips are to be drawn only from the membership, but that all other officers of the chamber (including the Speaker and President pro tem) are to be elected from those not members; (22) make it a rule that any member who will reach their 80th birthday during a given biennium is debarred from serving as floor leader, whip, committee chairman, or ranking minority member of a committee; (23) make it a rule that if you have served as a floor leader, a whip, or a member of a particular committee for 11 of the last 12 years or will hit that wall during the coming biennium, you must stand down; (24) make it a rule that seats on committees are allocated for biennial terms, that members have a qualified right to retain seats held in the previous biennium, that open seats are allocated by lot, and that the chairman and ranking-minority position be allocated by seniority; (25) make it a rule that all elections in the chamber and caucuses thereof must have a ‘none-of-the-above’ option and be conducted by ranked-choice balloting if more than two options are on the ballot. If none-of-the-above wins, you hold a follow up ballot with new candidates and with those who lost to ‘none-of-the-above’ debarred.
We forgot that truism of human nature when we gave DC residents the vote and self-rule.
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The problems of local government in DC have flat nothing to do with the presence of federal employees in DC. (While we’re at it, 80% of those working and resident in greater Washington are not federal employees). You see the same bloody problems in core cities all over the country.
The solution is take over all land in DC by eminent domain, payoff the former owners and remove all non-federal needed buildings thus creating green space in place of slums. The former residents can go wherever they want.
“…On that basis, the Capital should probably be relocated to somewhere near Nashville or Louisville…”
As a resident of Louisville, I decline the offer.
I nominate Wink, Texas!
Art Deco on August 7, 2025 at 9:59 am:
Thanks for providing your extended administrative suggestions, as they do represent attempts at providing solutions and not just identifying problems. But I am confused on this one:
“(21) make it a parliamentary rule that committee members, floor leaders, and whips are to be drawn only from the membership, but that all other officers of the chamber (including the Speaker and President pro tem) are to be elected from those not members…”
What is your thinking to create this item?
What does “those not members” mean in practice? Former congressmen? Anyone? Who/how are they selected or nominated??
How does this reduce or avoid fecklessness among members of Congress, and provide greater allegiance to The People rather than the major donors to their campaigns?