Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) is reintroducing a bill on Friday to assert congressional control over the District of Columbia’s sentencing policies.
Dubbed the D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act, or DC CRIMES Act, the bill would prohibit the District’s local officials from changing sentencing laws and restrict the ability of local judges to be more lenient with younger criminals.
The bill’s introduction comes as President Trump this week floated fully federalizing D.C. as a means to address crime in the nation’s capital.
Trump’s message came after Edward Coristine, who worked in the Department of Government Efficiency and gained notoriety for his nickname “Big Balls,” was allegedly beaten in connection with a carjacking attempt. Two 15-year-olds were arrested
A version of the DC CRIMES Act passed in the House in May 2024 in a bipartisan 225-181 vote, with 18 Democrats supporting the legislation, even as former President Biden’s White House opposed the legislation.
The bill would amend the D.C. Home Rule Act to prohibit the council from enacting any changes to sentencing laws.
It also makes a number of changes in an attempt to address the surge in juvenile crime in D.C.
The bill would change a provision that allows for lighter sentences for some convicts younger than 25 — lowering the threshold to 18. It removes a provision that allows youth offenders to be sentenced below mandatory minimums, and requires the Attorney General to publish a website on juvenile crime statistics.
“For far too long, our nation’s capital has been plagued by an epidemic of violence due to the soft-on-crime policies of far-left, local leaders,” Donalds said in a statement. “Weak leadership by anti-cop radicals gives rise to chaos and the reign of terror unleashed on innocent residents and visitors of our nation’s capital must end now. Congress has a constitutional responsibility to oversee the District of Columbia, and it’s imperative that we act quickly to assert our control when local government fails to do its job.”
“The American people deserve better, and I will not stand idly by while our capital city devolves into chaos. My DC CRIMES Act will restore law and order to the District,” Donalds said.
Trump this week called for changes in D.C. and to prosecute minors as adults.
“They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14.”
The president added: “If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore.”
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