House to take further aim at D.C.’s autonomy with crime package
Plus: Senate votes on a new Fed member and to clear Trump’s nominee backlog, and hearings on AI strategy, the cost of college, access to small business capital and recent CDC events.
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Now onto the week ahead…
The Main Event
The House is set to vote this week on a slate of crime bills aimed squarely at the District of Columbia, the latest front in Republicans’ campaign to weaken the city’s home rule authority. The package, which advanced out of the Oversight Committee last Wednesday alongside 10 other measures, would tighten sentencing laws, shield local police from council oversight, lower the age at which juveniles can be tried as adults and curtail the independence of the city’s judicial nomination process.
The crime votes will also land in a compressed and volatile calendar. With both chambers out next week for the High Holy Days, lawmakers have only this week and the final two days of September to avert a government shutdown. GOP leaders have floated the possibility of bringing a short-term funding extension to the floor, but the policy details remain murky and the path to bipartisan passage is even less clear.
The floor fight will occur just days after President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration in D.C. expired, a move that temporarily handed the federal government sweeping authority over the city’s public safety apparatus. Congress declined to extend the order, but Republicans are pressing ahead with their own legislative crackdown, seizing on the moment to argue that local officials can’t be trusted to manage crime without direct federal intervention.
All of this is unfolding against a national backdrop in which Trump is testing the limits of federal intervention in local crime policy under the banner of public safety. On Friday, he announced plans to send federal resources into Memphis and is eyeing New Orleans next—both Democratic-led cities in Republican states, where GOP governors are less likely to stand in his way. That’s a sharp contrast with Chicago, where Illinois leaders like Gov. J.B. Pritzker successfully resisted his push.
The political crosscurrents are complicated further by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s longtime voice in Congress. Norton has built her career on defending home rule, but this latest round of intervention has sparked whispers—and in some quarters, outright calls—for her to step aside. Critics say her advocacy lacks the vigor of years past, leaving D.C. without the full-throated champion it once had at precisely the moment its autonomy is most under siege.
Meanwhile, the Oversight Committee isn’t done. Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has summoned D.C.’s top leadership to testify at a September 18 hearing, setting the stage for a high-profile clash between Congress and the city’s elected officials. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and Attorney General Brian Schwalb are all slated to appear in a lineup that guarantees a combative airing of how the District manages crime and governance, just as Republicans push their slate of bills to the House floor.
House Happenings
Beyond the D.C. crime package, the House will also take up several energy bills, including measures to expand cross-border infrastructure, reestablish the National Coal Council, and bolster grid reliability.
A hefty slate of legislation is queued up for fast-track consideration on the suspension calendar, with the Veterans’ Affairs Committee leading the way on more than a dozen bipartisan bills to expand telehealth, modernize claims processing, improve cancer care coordination and authorize new scholarships and digital services for veterans.
Other suspensions include a bipartisan extension of the Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer programs, water infrastructure and technical assistance measures from the Transportation Committee, and the “Miracle on Ice” Congressional Gold Medal Act out of Financial Services.
Senate Scenes
The Senate this week will take up a resolution to authorize en bloc consideration of presidential nominees (voting on them in groups rather than one by one) after Republicans went nuclear to cut the threshold for subcabinet officials from 60 votes to a simple majority in response to Democrats’ all-out blockade of Trump’s picks. It’s the latest step in the erosion of Senate norms that began when Democrats lowered the bar for judicial appointments and Republicans followed suit for Supreme Court nominees in the 2010s. Senators will then turn to the nomination of Stephen Miran to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, while action on the FY26 defense bill is expected to continue with additional votes throughout the week.
Committee Watch
Monday
House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization: Hearing on advancing VA care through artificial intelligence.
House Rules Committee: Meeting to set floor procedures for the D.C. crime bills and several energy measures, including grid reliability, cross-border infrastructure and the National Coal Council.
Tuesday
Senate Judiciary Committee: Oversight hearing to examine the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
House Agriculture Committee: Hearing on the state of the specialty crop industry.
House Small Business Committee: Hearing on SBA lending and access to capital for Main Street businesses.
House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education: Hearing on reforming college pricing for students and families.
House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight: Hearing on where tax-exempt hospitals are spending their tax dollars.
House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance: Hearing on the rising threat of malicious drone use.
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment: Hearing on permitting reform under the Clean Air Act.
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism: Hearing to examine AI chatbots.
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety: Hearing on missing unaccompanied children and criminal sponsors.
Wednesday
House Judiciary Committee: Oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance: Hearing on reauthorizing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002.
House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth: Hearing on expanded school choice and alternatives to four-year college degrees.
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee: Hearing to review recent events at the CDC and implications for children’s health.
House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation: Hearing on the future of artificial intelligence.
U.S. Helsinki Commission: Hearing on conspiracy theories, antisemitism and democratic decline.
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs: Hearing on successes and opportunities under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act at the Department of the Interior and Indian Health Service.
Senate Special Committee on Aging: Hearing on drug safety, supply chains, and risks to aging Americans.
Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee: Hearing on strengthening services for veterans with spinal cord injuries.
Thursday
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: Hearing on policies to enhance seniors’ access to breakthrough medical technologies.
House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet: Hearing on a national AI strategy.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee: Hearing on oversight of the District of Columbia.
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee: Hearing on the state of K–12 education.
Senate Armed Services Committee: Hearing to examine Defense Department nominations, including inspector general and assistant secretary posts.
House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence: Hearing on unlocking the next generation of AI in the U.S. financial system.
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology: Hearing on solutions to expedite broadband permitting.
ICYMI
I wrote about how the demands of rank-and-file Democrats for sprawling concessions from Republicans in exchange for their votes to keep the government open are colliding with leadership’s preference to keep the focus on preserving health care for millions of Americans.
I also explored the intense interest lawmakers have taken in the WNBA, as Connecticut’s delegation lobbies to keep the team in the state and House Democrats promote equity as players negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the league’s owners.
And for COURIER Newsroom, I wrote about how President Trump is considering addressing the affordable housing crisis the same way he’s taken on crime, immigration and trade—by declaring a national emergency—and how his decision could serve as another instance of the little patience he has for the ordinary way of doing business in Washington.