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5h ago

House Passes Two Bills to Toughen D.C. Juvenile Sentencing

White House backing contrasts with D.C. home‑rule objections, leaving the measures to face an uncertain Senate test.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and defended employers who take action against their workers whose comments go too far, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A Metropolitan Police Department officer directs a vehicle to a secondary inspection at a checkpoint in the Ivy City neighborhood of Washington, DC, on August 28, 2025.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., tells reporters that Republicans are jeopardizing health care for Americans with their policies and their strategy to fund the government before the deadline at the end of the month, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Overview

  • The DC CRIMES Act passed 240-179, narrowing “youth offender” status to under 18, curbing judicial discretion below mandatory minimums, requiring a public juvenile-crime data portal, and blocking local changes to sentencing laws.
  • The Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act passed 225-203, lowering to 14 the age at which minors can be tried as adults for certain violent crimes; one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, voted no.
  • The Office of Management and Budget formally endorsed the bills as part of the president’s law‑and‑order agenda following a recent federal intervention that included a 30‑day federalization of MPD and National Guard deployments.
  • D.C. leaders and Democrats denounced the effort as federal overreach that undermines home rule, and Mayor Muriel Bowser, Attorney General Brian Schwalb, and Council Chair Phil Mendelson are slated to testify before the House Oversight Committee.
  • The legislation now heads to the Senate, where overcoming a filibuster would require Democratic support, as the House prepares additional votes on DC policing pursuits and judicial nominations.