President Donald Trump has threatened D.C.’s home rule — again. The renewed threat comes after 19-year-old Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, a former DOGE staffer and supposed Elon Musk protégé, was injured after an attempted carjacking this weekend in D.C. President Trump took to Truth Social to decry the incident, writing that crime in the city is “totally out of control,” and that leaves him with “no choice but to take Federal control of the city” if D.C. doesn’t fix this issue quickly. Violent crime was down last year compared to 2023 — but juvenile crime remains an issue.
So, what can and can't President Trump legally do in terms of taking control over D.C.’s governance? We spoke with Howard University’s Robinson Woodward-Burns on the City Cast DC podcast to discuss D.C.’s home rule, the president’s powers and limitations, and what happens next.
What is Home Rule?
It’s the ability of a local government to self-govern and make decisions on local matters. The District of Columbia Home Rule Act was established in 1973 and allows residents to elect a mayor and council.
Can Trump Actually Overturn Home Rule?
President Trump has been suggesting this possibility for a while. He talked about it on the campaign trail in 2024, mentioned a takeover in February, and brought it up again when the Washington Commanders deal was stalling in July. Mayor Muriel Bowser has recognized how vulnerable D.C.’s autonomy is under this administration and ordered the removal of the “Black Lives Matter” mural that her office originally commissioned in front of the White House, largely seen as a form of appeasement.
Legally, the Executive Branch cannot overturn the Home Rule Act. “Because the Constitution grants plenary powers over the District of Columbia to Congress, these are exclusive powers. It means that Congress has the power,” says Woodward-Burns. “But that might not stop Trump from trying to push through an executive order.”
Even with home rule, Congress must approve all of D.C.’s legislation. So President Trump would need Congress to approve a repeal of the Home Rule Act. Woodward-Burns tells us that it's unlikely that members of Congress are gesturing in that direction or “actually understand how much work [governing the District] would put on their plate.”
But recent actions by the president, such as naming himself chair of the Kennedy Center, ordering increased arrests for low-level offenses in D.C., and more, have certainly created concern over just how far he’s willing to go.
Even President Trump has limitations. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
What Can Trump Do?
Woodward-Burns says that President Trump does have two legal routes to exert control over the District: One is to take control over the District of Columbia National Guard, which answers through the Department of Defense to the President. The second is that, for a temporary one-month period, Trump could take control over the Metropolitan Police Department. Woodward-Burns says this is traditionally reserved for emergencies, but we’ve seen Trump pushing constitutional limits on emergency powers, famously pushing tariffs through emergency orders.
“While there are strong legal restraints about what the Executive can do, because Congress is controlled by this very slim Republican majority right now, the Republican Congress isn’t really actively enforcing these constitutional powers and I would not be surprised if Trump exceeded his constitutional powers in cracking down on the District of Columbia in ways that Congress was unlikely to contest,” says Woodward-Burns. “I don’t think law is a really serious constraint against Trump in this case.”
What Losing Home Rule Would Look Like
Though Woodward-Burns says it’s hard to tell, he says it could possibly lead to significant administrative and fiscal restrictions. A replacement governance could include the overturn of ideologically driven policies. Historical precedents of when the district’s ability to self-govern was undermined demonstrate that such changes could negatively impact the lives of Washingtonians, he says.
