Opinion: A joint letter from ANCs opposing President Trump’s takeover of D.C.

We are a group of 93 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners of Washington, D.C. — hyperlocal, nonpartisan and unpaid elected officials representing every neighborhood in our nation’s capital. We know our communities because we live here. We lead community  meetings, review liquor licenses and zoning applications, advocate for neighborhood  improvements, and help residents navigate local services. 

Today, we write not as Democrats or Republicans, but as elected representatives whose authority comes from the thousands of people we serve. Together, we oppose President Donald Trump’s unprecedented federal takeover of our Metropolitan Police Department and deployment of 800 National Guard troops. This takeover is a direct attack on the freedom and independence every community deserves. 

The facts don't support a takeover

President Trump claims he is working to improve public safety. In reality, it’s nothing more  than a power grab. Washingtonians are being denied the freedom to decide how to govern our city and how our local tax dollars are spent. The takeover strips us of independence in  budgeting, policymaking, and public safety — rights that every American in the 50 states takes for granted. 

We know our neighborhoods. We walk these streets daily. We raise our families here and  work alongside our neighbors to solve problems through the democratic processes. The President’s characterization of D.C. is not only wrong, it’s an insult to the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home. Americans that pay more in federal taxes per capita than  any state, yet still have no voting representation in Congress. 

We still have work to do. But it doesn't involve militarization of public safety

D.C., like every jurisdiction in this country, has more work to do to ensure each resident  enjoys the freedom to feel safe and the security of living in a well-governed community.  That work requires better coordination across government agencies, consistent support for social programs, and investments in necessities like street lighting, traffic enforcement, affordable housing, and behavioral health services.

Public safety is not improved when trained local police are replaced with military  personnel. In fact, it could make our city less safe. The National Guard is not equipped for day-to-day law enforcement. Their mission is not community policing, de-escalation, or building trust. Community leaders are already reporting that residents are hesitant to call  911, unsure whether they'll get a trained local officer who knows their block or a federal  agent who sees them as a threat. This fear risks undoing a decade of progress in  community policing and making us less safe overall.  

It also carries a taxpayer price tag in the tens of millions — money better spent on smarter policing, violence interruption programs, and wrap-around services instead of temporary  military deployments. 

The president and congress can help

Earlier this year, the U.S. House needlessly barred D.C. from spending $1.1 billion of our own local tax funding. This cruel decision has delayed or derailed critical programs across  D.C., including public safety initiatives, school improvements, mental health services, and  infrastructure repairs that keep neighborhoods safe and functional. Congress can and  should restore D.C.’s $1.1 billion in local funding immediately. 

If the president truly wanted to make an immediate impact on our city’s criminal-legal system and safety, he would fill the judicial vacancies on D.C.’s courts and increase the prosecutorial capacity of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. These empty seats slow trials, delay justice for victims, and allow unresolved cases to linger, costing both time and  taxpayer money. 

It is the height of hypocrisy for federal leaders to block the very resources D.C. needs to  govern ourselves effectively and then criticize us for not doing enough. You cannot choke  off a city’s ability to invest in its people and then claim those manufactured challenges justify a federal takeover. This is not fiscal oversight, it is an attack on our independence, our freedom to self-govern, and our right to decide how our own tax dollars are spent. 

This is about more than D.C.

What’s happening in D.C. is a warning to the rest of the country. The president has already deployed the National Guard against local wishes in other jurisdictions. The precedent that allows a president to override local control of policing, budgeting, and governance based on a subjective “emergency” declaration should alarm every mayor, city council, and  taxpayer in America.

When federal troops can patrol American streets without local consent and local budgets  can be frozen to force political compliance, democracy becomes fragile everywhere. This  isn’t about party politics, it’s about the fundamental American promise that people have  the freedom and independence to govern their own communities. 

A call to defend local democracy

For 50 years, the D.C. Home Rule Act has allowed Washingtonians to govern ourselves.  That progress didn’t happen in federal boardrooms or through presidential decrees; it happened in neighborhood meetings, on school boards, and through the work of residents coming together to solve problems. 

President Trump’s actions threaten not just D.C., but the very idea that communities can  govern themselves. They send the message that political theater matters more than local  voices, and that the 700,000 Americans living in the nation’s capital do not deserve the  same rights as citizens in the 50 states. 

The president has already signaled he wants to extend this occupation indefinitely, turning temporary “emergency” powers into permanent federal control. We call on Congress to reject any extension of this control in D.C. We call on Americans everywhere to see this for  what it is: an attack on the constitutional principle that a government closest to the people  governs best.  

This is not just a D.C. Beltway fight. It is a fight for every community’s right to chart its own path, protect its independence, and be heard above the din of national politics. 

We commissioners are D.C.’s grassroots democracy. We will continue serving our  constituents, defending and advocating for our neighborhoods, and proving every day that  local government works. No federal takeover will change that.

Brian Footer, SMD 1E07
Jeremy Sherman, SMD 1A04
Miguel Trindade Deramo, 1B06
Howard Garrett, SMD 2G01
Janell Pagats, SMD 3C03
Jenn Kauffman, SMD 4D08
Huma Imtiaz, SMD 5E04
Roberta Shapiro, SMD 6A03
Travis Swanson, SMD 7B03
Anna Hamilton, SMD 8D06

...and 83 more commissioners from across the District.