District of Columbia Police Home Rule Act
This bill would revoke a specific federal override over the District of Columbia’s police. It repeals Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which currently authorizes the President to assume emergency control of the District’s police during certain emergencies. By removing this authority, the President would no longer have a unilateral power to take over policing in D.C.; policing decisions during emergencies would remain under the local District government (the Mayor and City Council) subject to other existing federal mechanisms (such as federal law enforcement or National Guard activation) that could still apply in emergencies. The measure does not create new powers or replace the local authority with a different federal provision; it simply eliminates the presidential emergency takeover option. The bill was introduced in the Senate on September 2, 2025, with Senator Chris Van Hollen (and a group of co-sponsors) listed as sponsors.
Key Points
- 1Repeals the authority for the President to assume emergency control of the District of Columbia police (Section 740 of the DC Home Rule Act).
- 2Removes the corresponding item from the Act’s table of contents.
- 3Restores or reinforces local control of DC policing during emergencies to the District government (Mayor and DC Council), rather than a presidential takeover.
- 4Does not otherwise change the DC Home Rule Act or create a new mechanism for emergency policing; it only removes the presidential takeover provision.
- 5The repeal is enacted by amending the DC Home Rule Act and does not specify an alternative procedure for emergency policing, leaving other federal tools (e.g., federal law enforcement assistance or National Guard activation under existing authorities) as potential routes for incident response.