Trump’s DC takeover is Step 1 — our capital needs a bigger fix

Last week President Donald Trump declared war on crime in Washington, DC, when he sent in the National Guard and federalized the district’s police force for the 30-day period allowable under the DC Home Rule Act.

Trump’s motives were good: He’s right that it’s shameful our national capital has become one of our most dangerous cities.

He’s also right that DC’s crime epidemic hurts America’s competitiveness and prestige.

But the president’s month-long law enforcement takeover won’t fix that problem — because the problem is not, at its core, bad law enforcement.

It’s the fact that DC’s government has for decades now shown itself incapable of even the most basic level of public administration.

Blame it, too, on Congress, which transferred control over the district to the city’s own elected government in the Home Rule Act of 1973 — but has refused to admit its mistake and reverse course.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives remain aloof from the problems they created, even as federal staffers, visitors and on occasion their own members are routinely harassed and attacked by criminals on the streets and in their homes.

But the US Constitution stipulates that DC is a national public resource, not a self-governing city like any other.

Under the Constitution, it is Congress’s responsibility to competently administrate it — and Congress has abdicated that responsibility.

When the 30-day takeover period is up (assuming Congress does not renew his privileges), Trump will turn the keys back over to a capital city government that can’t staff a police force, can’t keep young violent offenders off the streets and can’t run a functioning crime lab.

District officials can’t claim to have reduced crime without cooking the books, and can’t protect visiting diplomats from being shot

And they’re not just failing at law enforcement: DC can’t keep its public schools out of the basement of national performance rankings, and can’t prevent huge homeless encampments from forming while thousands of district-owned public housing units go unoccupied.

The only possible solution to such a crisis of mismanagement is to overturn the law that gave home rule to DC and start over from scratch.

And if President Trump is serious about tackling the district’s dysfunction, he should do just that.

First, the president should build up some goodwill by ending his police federalization and troop occupation, preferably earlier than planned.

No need to make excuses; he can simply explain that he’s come to realize DC’s dysfunction runs far deeper than anything a few extra officers on the streets can solve.

Then he and Republican leadership should begin meeting with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to generate support for Home Rule repeal.

While Trump seems to think the entire district is dead set against him, this is incorrect: Many residents, while no fans of the president, are fed up with not being able to safely walk their dogs at night.

Longtime Democratic members of Congress have personally experienced the city’s dangers for many years, and they all know the ordeal of their colleague Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who was assaulted in her apartment building’s elevator just two years ago.

If Trump were to approach this issue firmly but collaboratively, he would find the water warmer than he thinks.

Legally, the argument is not a hard sell.

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution says that Congress shall have “exclusive legislation in all Cases whatsoever” over the federal district.

Congress has given a 50-year trial to the notion of delegating its power to the people of DC, and that trial has unequivocally failed to produce a district that serves the interests of the federal government, the American people, or the residents themselves.

Therefore, we should return to rule by Congress, as the Constitution mandates.

Doing so would require a simple act of Congress, passed by both parties, that overturns the 1973 law and dismisses DC’s elected representatives.

A third section of the new law should establish a congressional committee to appoint exemplary city managers from cities around United States to reconstitute a competent DC government.

In many American cities, like Madison, Wis., Phoenix, Ariz., and Wichita, Kan., elected officials appoint professional administrators to oversee day-to-day municipal operations.

Washington, DC, should do the same — with Congress taking ultimate responsibility.

Some on the left will bemoan the reversal of Home Rule as yet another federal assault on our democracy.

But the District of Columbia was never intended by the Founders to be a self-governing state.

It was intended to serve the interests of the country as a whole, by providing a safe and orderly place for public administration.

Returning DC’s governing prerogative to the people of America, not the district itself, will take us one step closer to being the republic the Founders envisioned.

John Masko is a journalist specializing in business and international politics.