WASHINGTON — Some of D.C.'s top leaders are facing tough questions from members of Congress Wednesday. The House Oversight Committee wants more answers about how the District is being governed.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee III testified on Capitol Hill. This is the second hearing between D.C. leaders and the oversight committee regarding crime, education and finances.
Bowser and Contee's testimony comes as the District is making several changes in order to fight rising crime in the area.
But another witness who got a lot of attention from Republicans.
It was the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Matthew Graves. He appeared only after the threat of a subpoena.
It was only after a letter from the committee chair, Republican James Comer of Kentucky, to the attorney general, that he secured a commitment for Graves testimony.
Republican members seized on a statistic recently published in the Washington Post that Graves' office had declined to prosecute 67% of cases, and he got hammered with questions to explain that.
"We're not satisfied with your job performance," Comer said.
Graves has been in that post since November of 2021.
Of all the 94 U.S. Attorney Offices across the country, his is the only one prosecuting both federal and local crimes – felonies and misdemeanors – in D.C.'s superior Court.
"Mr. Graves, your policies are directly endangering the public," said Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-Kansas).
Graves said the numbers were a snapshot of the past.
"The statistic you cite of 67% is a snapshot in time of what the office looked like when I came into the role," Graves said.
This was the second hearing involving D.C. leaders titled "Overdue Oversight of the Capital City."
DC Councilmembers Phil Mendelson and Charles Allen took questions back in March along with the head of the DC Police Union.
Democratic members of the Oversight Committee on Tuesday were adamant that D.C. be allowed to handle its own affairs without Congressional interference.
"I apologize Mayor Bowser that you have to sit through one more attempt by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to undermine the democratic rights of the District of Columbia and its citizens," Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio)
Bowser did not disagree.
"To be asked questions that the members aren't asking in their own states," Bowser said. "It's offensive to think that they would care or know more about crime in D.C. than we do."
Democrats on the committee also ferociously argued, pointing their fingers at the other side of the room at their Republican colleagues – that it was insincere to have a congressional hearing about D.C. crime and not discuss guns and gun violence.
Maybe it was Republican Gary Palmer of Alabama who summed it up best, saying, "These hearings are partisan crap shows."
But he's also the same guy who called D.C. schools "inmate factories" at the last hearing, and no one seemed to like hearing that.
On Monday, Bower's administration introduced new legislation aimed at bringing crime down. Last week, Bowser held a public safety summit to get more input from local and federal public safety officials about what was working, what was not working and what needed to change in order to improve public safety in D.C.
In her opening remarks, Bowser shared her story, and told Congress she was there to "set the record straight." Bowser and other Democrats believe D.C.'s lack of statehood is holding the city back from being able to implement necessary changes.
In her remarks to Congress, Bowser says D.C. finances are strong and makes her pitch for statehood, saying despite The District's progress, it was all made "with one arm tied behind our back."
"Indeed, we are not a territory nor a colony, we are not actually a city and not quite a state," Bowser said. "But I want to call attention to what it means for our country to have 700,000 disenfranchised Americans living in the shadow of this Capitol – who pay federal taxes, in fact we pay more per capita than any state, who go to war to defend our democracy, and who have all the responsibilities of citizenship ... Of course, we can fix it through statehood, and I implore all members not to think of statehood as political but fundamental to building a better democracy."
Bowser also championed D.C.'s Comeback Plan and changes made under her leadership to address homelessness and rising crime rates.
But she asked Congress for help, as well.
"Until we become a state, we need Congress to fully fund your parts of the D.C. criminal justice system," Bowser said.
She also pushed Congress for help beyond public safety. She asked for Congress to increase the DC TAG scholarship, she asked help redeveloping Union Station, and to address the looming $1 billion Metro shortfall.
"Help the national capital region avoid the $1 billion transit cliff that Metro expects next year; a situation the system is facing, in part, because of federal remote work," Bowser said.
She even used her remarks to push for a redesigned RFK stadium complex.
Back in March, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Councilmember Charles Allen, D.C.'s Chief Financial Officer Glenn Lee and Greggory Pemberton, the head of D.C.'s Police Union faced questions from lawmakers.
Essentially, Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee believe crime in D.C. is out of control and that the D.C. city council's policies are a major contributing factor.
"We think there's a solution to this," Chairman James Comer told WUSA9 following the first hearing. "We want to work with the (DC) Council. This was a sincere hearing to try to deliver the message we want to work with you. If you continue to pass soft on crime legislation we're going to continue to work in a bipartisan way to overrule that."
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