Over the last several years, major metropolitan cities in the United States have seen a troubling trend when it comes to public safety. Left-wing prosecutors have been elected to office on the platform of not prosecuting crime, turning some cities into havens for violence, drugs, and criminal activity. But as crime kicked up, liberal voters once willing to go along have finally reached their breaking point. In San Francisco, a tough-on-crime prosecutor was elected to replace a prosecutor who turned the city into something close to an open-air drug market. In Seattle, a Republican prosecutor was elected and is actually holding criminals accountable. St. Louis has seen an improvement in crime since our attorney general, Andrew Bailey, sued to remove the woke prosecutor Kim Gardner from office.

But some cities have refused to get serious about public safety. One is a particular stain on our country – our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Washington has the 4^th highest murder rate in the country, with 27.3 murders per 100,000 citizens. That rate is higher than Islamabad, Pakistan and nearly 18 times higher than Havana, Cuba. This year, there have been nearly 1,600 violent crimes and nearly 16,000 crimes reported in the city. Carjackings increased 547 percent between 2018 and 2023. On Capitol Hill, one of my committee’s members, Rep. Ron Estes from Kansas, employed a young 21-year-old intern who was murdered as he innocently walked home from work. A 3-year old – a 3-year old! – was murdered over the 4^th of July. These statistics and examples of violence should shock every one of us to our core and demand something better.

Fortunately for us, President Trump is not afraid to take on the massive challenge of fixing Washington’s crime problem. On August 11, 2025, President Trump invoked the Home Rule Act of 1973 to take authority over the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. His bold action is the first step to solving the crime crisis that is negatively impacting D.C. residents and workers.

Somewhat unbelievably, rather than acknowledge the obvious reality that crime is a major problem in Washington, leaders of the Democrat Party have instead attempted to deny that action needs to be taken. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated, “We…reject this unjustified power grab as illegitimate.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stated, “No [expletive] way!” on if he and Senate Democrats would help President Trump in his ongoing efforts with legislation to protect D.C. residents and the safety of our nation’s capital.

Most Americans are appalled at the shocking violence they see coming out of too many of our country’s Democrat-run cities. Thankfully, we have a president working to benefit all Americans and willing to take on powerful special interests in favor of common sense. I’ll stand with President Trump to fight for public safety and accountability for the criminals who commit these heinous acts.