📢 D.C. Belongs to the People, Not the Politicians

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Sep 03, 2025

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Friends,

Washington, D.C. is more than monuments and marble halls—it is home to more than 700,000 Americans who pay taxes, raise families, and build communities. Yet for generations, those residents have been denied full representation in Congress and forced to live under the thumb of federal politicians who too often see D.C. as a political chessboard rather than a living city.

Today, the fight for D.C. statehood and self-governance is not just about one city—it's about whether democracy belongs to the people or corrupt politicians who believe power exists to serve them.

On January 7, 2025, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a new D.C. statehood bill in the House of Representatives. This was not the first attempt. In April 2021, the House passed H.R. 51, only to watch it die in the Senate, where opponents—including Senator Joe Manchin—insisted that statehood must come through a constitutional amendment. This obstruction was an excuse to deny D.C. residents their fundamental democratic rights. People Power United proudly supports full D.C. statehood—while keeping federal buildings designated as the U.S. Capitol. Washington must be recognized not as a colony of Congress but as a community of equal citizens.

We are now witnessing a 34-time convicted felon—Trump, a man who calls himself president but has never been a leader—using his Republican allies in Congress to stage a takeover of D.C., a move that serves no real purpose beyond political theater and dangerous optics.

“President Trump’s incursions against D.C. are among the most egregious attacks on D.C. home rule in decades. D.C. residents are Americans, worthy of the same autonomy granted to residents of the states. Our local police force, paid for by D.C. residents, should not be subject to federalization, an action that wouldn’t be possible for any other police department in the country. No emergency exists in D.C. that the president did not create himself, and he is not using the D.C. Police for federal purposes, as required by law,” said Congresswoman Norton. 1

History teaches, and the Framers well knew, that the ability to turn an army inward can be a powerful instrument of tyranny and oppression. -Brennan Center 2

No president should be allowed to seize local police to advance a political agenda.

“Trump was AWOL when the District of Columbia actually needed support from the National Guard to protect it from an insurrectionist mob on January 6th. His current takeover is an abuse of power and nothing more than a raw power grab. It is a direct attack on the ability of the people of the District of Columbia to govern their own affairs. The District of Columbia has made important progress on public safety in recent years, and can do more if Trump and House Republicans get the hell out of their way and stop blocking D.C. from accessing $1 billion of its own funds to strengthen policing and provide other public services,” said Senator Van Hollen. 3

Authoritarians have always understood the power of symbols, and there is no greater symbol of American democracy than Washington, D.C. If a leader can take over the Capitol and the streets around it, they can project dominance over one city and the entire nation. This is the blueprint of dictatorship: seize the institutions that represent liberty and justice for all, then weaponize them against the very people they were built to serve. Allowing one man or one party to militarize the capital risks turning a beacon of democracy into a fortress of fear—undermining the very ideals of freedom that the United States claims to uphold.

We've already seen the consequences. A CNN poll revealed that most Washingtonians oppose federal control of their police and National Guard—viewing it as an assault on their autonomy (CNN, 2025). Meanwhile, Black parents across D.C. are speaking out about the trauma of federal crackdowns in their neighborhoods. As the New York Times reported, these families fear their children being "caught in the crosshairs" of heavy-handed policing justified in the name of order (NYT, 2025). This is not safety—it is state violence.

And when it comes to homelessness, the same politicians who claim to care about "public order" often make things worse. As PBS noted, clearing encampments doesn't solve homelessness—it just pushes vulnerable people further into the shadows while ignoring real solutions like housing, mental health care, and jobs (PBS, 2025). Federal control only accelerates this cycle of cruelty, replacing compassion with criminalization.

D.C. residents deserve more than empty promises. They deserve the right to govern their city, elect members of Congress, and pass laws without Congress vetoing them. They deserve leaders who invest in communities instead of militarizing them. And they deserve solidarity from the rest of the country in demanding that democracy finally reach every corner of our nation's capital.

This is not a local issue. It is a test of whether we believe democracy belongs to all of us, or only to those with power. Together, we must champion progress and power to the people by standing up for D.C. statehood, ending federal takeovers, and championing policies rooted in justice and dignity.

The people built this capital. The people live here. The people should rule here.

D.C. belongs to the people—not the politicians.

Today’s calls to action

Click here to sign the petition: Tell Congress: Stop Trump’s Hostile Takeover of D.C.
Click here to send a letter to Congress: Tell Congress: STOP Trump's D.C. Takeover
Make a Call
1. Our friends at MoveOn are urging us to call our Members of Congress and follow the script below:
2. Dial 833-426-4199 or (202) 224-3121 to be directly connected.
3. You could say something like this: “Hello, my name is _____ and I’m a constituent from _____. I’m calling to urge [member of Congress] to publicly oppose the deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. and the militarization of our streets. I urge [member of Congress] to support the Termination Resolution, H.J. Res 115, to end this so-called emergency and to oppose federal funding for the deployment of the National Guard in D.C. or any other American city.”

Thanks for taking action!

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FYI

Please note that when People Power United uses the word “fight” in writing, online, or in speech, we mean to advocate fiercely, never to incite or support violence. We do not condone violence in any form, nor do we promote breaking the law.

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Laurie joining other activists and organizations to drop thousands of petitions off to Congress for reforms to the Supreme Court

People Power United is a group of community members that champions progress and power for the people.