One Big Thing That Critics of Trump’s Move Against D.C. Crime Miss

W hen President Trump invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act, giving the federal government temporary control over the police force in Washington, D.C., I was ecstatic. Anyone who has lived in or near D.C. over the past decade, as I have, knows that the city has become far more dangerous. But mainstream media outlets and Democratic politicians have invented all sorts of reasons to criticize the president’s move.

Some critics point to D.C.’s overall crime rate, which appears to have dropped for the past two years. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, for example, claims that Trump’s move is excessive because D.C. crime has (supposedly) dropped to a 30-year low. Other critics claim that various outlandish motives prompted Trump’s decision. Representative Glenn Ivey (D., Md.) believes that Trump is just overreacting to the recent attack on a popular DOGE staffer. Alternatively, The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell argues that Trump is trying to move on from the Jeffrey Epstein news cycle. The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin, meanwhile, is hyperventilating at the possibility of Trump’s using the police to “rehearse” some nefarious plan. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, too, dismisses the Trump administration’s stated reasons for intervening and says that he feels “perfectly safe” in the city, without mentioning that he has a large, armed security detail.

In response, conservatives point out that the Metropolitan Police Department recently suspended one of its commanders for underreporting crime data and that this makes the District’s crime data unreliable. Moreover, they argue, even if the data are reliable, the current level of crime is still unacceptable. Democrats have long pushed for D.C. statehood. But if D.C. became a state tomorrow, it would have the highest per capita homicide rate in the country. And it would not be particularly close.

All of that aside, anyone focused on D.C.’s overall crime rate is missing the point: Regardless of whether you think that the city is generally unsafe, the city is clearly unsafe for government officials. It doesn’t matter if D.C.’s overall crime rate is comparable to those of other cities if that crime rate threatens or disrupts government work.

Pricey neighborhoods such as Navy Yard, for example, are home to congressional members and staffers alike. Many lawmakers and Hill staffers choose the location because it’s within walking distance of Capitol Hill. But Navy Yard residents have watched the neighborhood turn into a “war zone” in recent years as its violent crime rate has spiked. Now, many residents drive or use rideshare apps because they’re scared to walk to and from work. These fears are hardly unfounded:

• March 2023: Phillip Todd, a staffer for Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.), is stabbed in broad daylight by Glynn Neal, a repeat offender who was hearing voices in his head. Neal was released from prison just one day before he attacked Todd, who suffered a punctured lung and a suspected brain bleed.
• June 2023: A staffer for Congressman Brad Finstad (R., Minn.) is attacked at gunpoint by two hooded suspects after the annual congressional charity baseball game.
• October 2023: Representative Henry Cuellar (D., Texas) is carjacked at gunpoint outside his Navy Yard home.
• November 2023: Naomi Biden’s Secret Service detail opens fire at three people trying to break into a Secret Service SUV parked outside the president’s granddaughter’s Georgetown home.
• January 2024: Congressman Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) tweets that he and his wife rehearse carjacking scenarios with their young children to ensure that his kids are not abducted. Swalwell was responding to news that carjackers had just abducted a two-year-old child while stealing a vehicle.
• February 2024: A carjacker shoots and kills Mike Gill, a former Trump official, in broad daylight on K Street, which is home to many of D.C.’s high-end legal and financial firms.
• September 2024: A homeless man armed with a razor lunges at three female congressional staffers at midday on Capitol Hill.
• June 2024: A staffer for Representative Mike Collins (R., Ga.) and an intern are robbed at gunpoint in Navy Yard.
• December 2024: Secret Service agents shoot at several carjackers outside the home of Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
• April 2025: Two illegal immigrants steal DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse while she dines at The Capital Burger in downtown D.C.
• May 2025: A gunman murders two Israeli Embassy staffers in cold blood.
• June 2025: Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a college student and congressional intern, is gunned down at the Mount Vernon Square Metro stop.
• August 2025: A group of teenagers attacks Edward Coristine, a DOGE staffer, in an attempted carjacking.

The lesson here is not that government workers’ lives are more valuable than others’, but a lot of government work is critical. And D.C.’s crime rate threatens that work. Representative Henry Cueller, for example, was serving on subcommittees for defense and homeland security when carjackers stole his iPhone and iPad. We need a seat of government where routine crimes don’t threaten national security. We also need a capital city that attracts bright and ambitious young people. Many Capitol Hill jobs have long hours and relatively low salaries. These jobs become even less attractive when staffers must worry about whether the homeless man on the street will stab them in the head or lunge at them with a razor blade as they walk to work.

If we want our federal government to be effective, Washington, D.C., needs to be a safe and appealing place to work. It’s that simple.