President Trump said he would pursue federal control of Washington if democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George wins Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary, citing Congress's constitutional authority over the nation's capital.
Speaking at the White House on June 11, Trump was blunt. "I wouldn't like it, and maybe we take back Washington, run it on the federal basis," he told reporters. "We won't put up with it. We're not going to lose our businesses." The primary is set for Tuesday, June 16, and Lewis George, a Ward 4 Council member who describes herself as a democratic socialist, currently leads the field to replace outgoing Mayor Muriel Bowser.
The threat arrives with real legal scaffolding behind it. Congress holds plenary authority over the District of Columbia under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, and the Trump administration has already tested that authority. In February, Congress passed a disapproval resolution blocking the District's effort to decouple its tax code from Trump's federal tax cuts, a move city officials said would cost Washington hundreds of millions in projected revenue. Trump signed it. Last August, Trump invoked Section 740 of the Home Rule Act for the first time in history to place the Metropolitan Police Department under federal control, and in January he extended a National Guard deployment in the District through the end of the year.
Lewis George won her Ward 4 council seat in 2020 backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, riding a wave of "Defund the Police" demands following the George Floyd protests. She argued that American policing is "rooted in white supremacy," according to Just the News. The DC Police Union has not forgotten. When Lewis George commented publicly on federal law enforcement activity in the city this spring, the union's response was direct: "The only reason there is so much federal law enforcement activity is because you have worked tirelessly with the DSA to defund our agency. What you're seeing is a direct result of your leadership."
Her current campaign has softened the framing. Lewis George now says she will "use all available tools" to fight crime and cites a background as a prosecutor at the DC Office of the Attorney General. But she would end the Metropolitan Police Department's cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, framing it as a community trust initiative. Critics see it as the same underlying ideology, retooled for a citywide race.
What a Takeover Would Look Like
Trump cannot revoke home rule by executive order. The District of Columbia Home Rule Act was passed by Congress in 1973, and rewriting or repealing it requires an act of Congress, according to legal analysts cited by PBS News. But the president's tools are broader than a single order. Under the Home Rule Act itself, the president can assume operational control of the Metropolitan Police Department if he declares that emergency conditions require the force for federal purposes. Unlike state governors, who command their own National Guard, the DC mayor has no independent authority over the DC National Guard, giving the president the ability to mobilize it without local consent. Congressional Republicans can reach further still, using budget disapproval authority to override city spending decisions without touching the charter at all.
Lewis George called Trump's remarks an "attack on democracy" and a threat to local self-government, according to NBC Washington. She did not address the constitutional framework that Congress has already begun deploying against the District.
Washington is so heavily Democratic that the winner of Tuesday's primary is almost certain to be the next mayor. If Lewis George prevails, the confrontation Trump is signaling moves from threat to active fight. The administration has shown it will use every available lever before a single vote is counted in November. It will have more reason to use them after.
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