How Congress can end DCs lawfare and one-party federal bias

As we prepare for a new presidency, we need to think about fixing Washington, DC.No, I’m not just talking about the “drain the swamp” sense of reforming — and hopefully shrinking — the federal bureaucracy. I’m talking about fixing the actual District of Columbia itself.The Constitution, in Article 1 Section 8, directs Congress to “exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States.”The idea was that the seat of government should be a neutral zone, one not dominated by any state or party, dedicated to the running of the government.Instead of a local government or legislature, the District was to be governed by Congress.A place that was meant to operate on behalf of the nation as a whole, it was thought, should be governed by the nation as a whole.That gradually changed.  First, the passage of the 23rd Amendment in 1961 gave the District the right to be represented in presidential elections.

In 1973, when Congress passed a “home rule” law, the District became a self-governing municipality with its own elected officials, prosecutors and courts.This might not have mattered so much if the political makeup of DC matched that of the nation — but in fact, it’s a one-party jurisdiction.Its local government is utterly dominated by Democrats, and it lopsidedly favors Democrats in presidential elections: Despite losing decisively to Donald Trump last month, Kamala Harris got 92.5% of the DC vote to Trump’s 5% — not much less than the 93% racked up there by 2016 loser Hillary Clinton.That has sobering implications for any Republican facing criminal charges there.Because it’s our nation’s capital city, DC is the scene of many political trials, yet its jury pool is as lopsided as the one that tried the Scottsboro Boys. In fact, when special prosecutor Jack Smith w...