What is the Home Rule Act? Trump just invoked it to ‘rescue’ Washington, DC

President Donald Trump just invoked a decades-old law in a bid to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital.

In an Aug. 11 press conference, he said he was employing Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, permitting him to federalize the city’s police department.

“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said. “This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back.”

He also vowed to deploy the National Guard to “restablish law, order and public safety,” mirroring tactics used during recent protests in Los Angeles.

Multiple Democratic lawmakers condemned the president’s move, denouncing it as an example of executive overreach and a political distraction.

What is the Home Rule Act?

Passed by Congress in 1973, the District of Columbia Home Rule Act granted the city limited self-governing powers while leaving other authorities in federal hands.

For the first time, it permitted D.C. residents to elect their own city council and mayor. However, it established significant oversight powers for Congress, including allowing lawmakers to review all legislation passed by the city council.

“The Home Rule Act is the result of the ongoing push by District residents for control of their own local affairs,” according to the city council’s website. “The existing local government is the most expanded form of self-government since the establishment of the District as the seat of the federal government.”

Section 740 of the act — invoked by Trump — is concerned with the control of the police in emergency situations.

“Whenever the President of the United States determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist which require the use of the Metropolitan Police force for Federal purposes, he may direct the Mayor to provide him, and the Mayor shall provide, such services of the Metropolitan Police force as the President may deem necessary and appropriate,” the section states.

However, there are limits on the president’s authority to federalize the city police.

The president is only permitted to take control of the police department for a maximum of 48 hours without alerting Congress, the act states.

But, if the president provides a written letter to the ranking members “of the Committees on the District of Columbia of the Senate and the House of Representatives,” he may continue to exercise control of the police department for 30 days.

After one month, this authority can only be extended by a joint resolution from the Senate and the House.

Before invoking the legislation, Trump previously expressed interest in repealing the Home Rule Act, telling reporters on Aug. 5, “We have to run D.C.”

Crime in DC

In his Aug. 11 press conference, Trump portrayed Washington, D.C. as a city plagued by lawlessness.

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people,” the president said.

But, official data paints a more complicated picture. While D.C.’s crime rates remain higher than other cities by certain measures, they are steadily improving.

So far in 2025, violent crime has decreased 26% year-over-year, with homicides down 12% and robberies down 28%, according to police department statistics. Total crime is also down by 7%.

And in 2024, violent crime in the District of Columbia fell by 35% from 2023, reaching its lowest level in over three decades, according to the Department of Justice.

Still, Washington’s homicide rate in 2024 was among the highest of the nation’s largest cities, behind St. Louis, New Orleans and Detroit, according to the Center for Public Safety Initiatives at Rochester Institute of Technology.

The falling crime rate in the capital mirrors a broader national trend of reduced violent crime in recent years, following a pandemic-era surge, according to CBS News.

FBI Director Kash Patel noted this positive progression during Trump’s press conference, stating, “The murder rates are plummeting. We are now able to report that the murder rate is on track to be the lowest in U.S. history, in modern reported U.S. history.”

This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 2:34 PM with the headline "What is the Home Rule Act? Trump just invoked it to ‘rescue’ Washington, DC."