House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
It would also bar judges in most cases from being able to hand down sentences lower than the stated mandatory minimum for juvenile offenders.
House lawmakers also advanced a bill led by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, that would make juvenile offenders as young as 14 eligible to be tried as adults, if accused of certain violent crimes.
That age limit is currently at 16. The bill covers crimes including murder, first-degree sexual abuse, burglary in the first degree, robbery while armed, or assault with intent to commit any such offense, according to a press release on Gill's website.
The latter bill passed the House by a 225-203 vote. Even fewer Democrats, just eight, voted with Republicans on the measure.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., also voted against the bill.
It comes days after President Donald Trump's 30-day emergency order federalizing D.C. police expired, with no moves from Congress or the White House to push for an extension.
Trump signaled he could still extend his hold on local law enforcement, though he showed little appetite to do so.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a press conference after President Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department at the Wilson Building on Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
But Republicans have positioned them as necessary remedies to what they view as a lax criminal justice system.
"It is clear to members of the Committee and the public that D.C.’s soft-on-crime policies have failed to keep D.C. residents and visitors safe," House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said of Donalds' bill specifically. "Our capital cannot continue to let criminals freely roam the streets and expect this crime crisis to end."
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Congress has wide jurisdiction over D.C.'s policies given its status as a federal city, despite the Home Rule Act of 1973 also granting the city the ability to have its own local government.
Bowser, a Democrat, had previously acknowledged that crime in D.C. had gone down since the Trump administration's involvement.
She is scheduled to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-dems-vote-against-crackdown-dc-youth-crime-after-trump-backs-off-capital-police