Supporting D.C. Police Officers and Protecting Our Capital

As crime skyrocketed in our nation’s capital, Democrats went after the police fighting to protect the community instead of the criminals. Rather than working to ensure our police have the resources they need, the D.C. Council imposed bureaucratic policies that obstruct Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers’ ability to remove criminals from our streets.

The D.C. Council’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 included provisions that made it harder for police to engage in vehicular pursuit and apprehend dangerous criminals, imposing a complex framework of at least 14 considerations officers are required to weigh before initiating the pursuit of a fleeing suspect.

This soft-on-crime and overly complicated process has resulted in less justice for victims and kept criminals on the street who may otherwise be behind bars, continuing to fuel the rampant crime in D.C. and surrounding communities. 

D.C.’s police officers shouldn’t have to decide between keeping our capital safe or protecting themselves. The best way to ensure residents of and visitors to our nation’s capital can explore D.C. safely is to make sure the MPD has the resources and support necessary to keep crime off the streets – not obstruct their pursuit of criminals with complicated guidelines.

Congress has a duty to oversee the governance of D.C. and make sure the MPD is able to effectively fight crime and keep Washingtonians and visitors safe. House Republicans are bringing legislation to get rid of these burdensome requirements and empower officers to pursue suspects fleeing in a vehicle when necessary, effective, and without unreasonable risk.

Rep. Clay Higgins’ legislation, H.R. 5143, the District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025, amends the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 to allow MPD officers to engage in vehicular pursuit of a suspect fleeing in a motor vehicle if the officer deems it necessary, the most effective means of apprehension, and without unreasonable risk to bystanders, and develops a trial system that would alert people to police pursuits in their immediate vicinity.

House Republicans will always stand with our men and women in uniform who risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe. Who will Democrats stand with: the police or the criminals? 

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Restoring Judicial Appointment Power to the President

Currently, the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission provides a list of recommended judicial nominees to the President. The President then selects nominees from this list for appointment. 

The commission consists of seven members chosen by local government officials and the D.C. Bar. Additionally, one member is chosen by the President and another by the chief judge of the U.S. district court for the District of Columbia; however, the President’s appointee was selected by Obama for a five-year term and reappointed by Biden, leaving us with a completely left-leaning, soft-on-crime commission crafting the list of potential judicial nominees.

Article II of the U.S. Constitution gives the President appointment power over federal judges in D.C. – it doesn’t restrict that power to a list made by a commission. It’s time to restore proper appointment authority to where the founders intended it to reside: with the President of the United States. 

We cannot allow an unaccountable, left-leaning commission to restrict the Constitutional power of the President to limit appointees to soft-on-crime and biased judges that better align with their political agenda. 

Today, House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to abolish the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission and restore appointment power to the President by allowing him to appoint judges through the normal Senate confirmation process. This legislation is in line with the Constitution and consistent with other federal judicial nomination processes.

H.R. 5125, the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act of 2025, sponsored by Rep. Pete Sessions, repeals the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission and restores the authority to the President to choose his judicial nominees to the D.C. courts.

It’s past time to make D.C. courts accountable again and ensure judges appointed in our nation’s capital will follow the law.