Senate Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton (R-AK) said Congress should back President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in Washington, DC, which is currently on a running clock if the House and Senate do not pass a joint resolution.
Trump invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to take control of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and activated the National Guard last week to tackle the city’s rising murder rate, but the 1973 law also sets a 30-day limit on how long the federal government can use MPD.
No MPD services should remain under federal control “for any period in excess of 30 days, unless the Senate and the House of Representatives enact into law a joint resolution authorizing such an extension,” the act states.
Cotton, who revealed on Fox News last week that some of his own staffers have been “victimized by violent crime” in the city, advocated for a continuation of Trump’s emergency control over police in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News.
“President Trump is absolutely right to protect law-abiding Americans from violent criminals in D.C.,” the senator said Tuesday.
“This shouldn’t be a partisan issue—Congress should back the President to continue federal support for making D.C. a safer place to live and visit,” he added.
During his recent Fox News appearance, Cotton stated that “it’s more dangerous in our nation’s capital than in the capitals of many third-world countries.”
Other Republican senators, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), have stood behind Trump’s actions to secure the capital.
“There is an obligation to keep the nation’s capital safe, and I think the President is doing exactly the right thing by acting boldly,” Cruz said in a recent episode of his podcast. “I want to commend him. This is a bold step, and I think it’s really important.”
Several Democrat members of Congress have denounced Trump’s moves, with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) referring to the crime crackdown as the “oppression of people in Washington,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) calling it “a total abuse of power,” and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) calling it a “stunt.”
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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