For city leaders in Washington, DC, the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol reinforces the need for Congress to move on granting statehood to the district, particularly after pro-Trump rioters were able to incite violence without immediate repercussion or proper law enforcement on hand to tame the crowd, according to Rep. Oye Owolewa, DC's shadow representative.
"We don't have control over our National Guard. While every other state can just have the governor reach and get their resources to protect them, we don't have that," he said.
The need for statehood was evident even before the Capitol attack and was highlighted last year when the ongoing coronavirus pandemic first swept the U.S., Owolewa added. "We don't control our own budget. We can't even create our own laws without federal intervention. We're not able to get all the resources to fight COVID compared to our neighboring states in Maryland and Virginia."
Just off of the heels of last week's attack, the city is gearing up to host President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, an event DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is asking that Americans virtually attend from home because of persistent safety concerns. Owolewa said he is concerned about residents of the city, in particular, not just for potential violence at the event but the fallout from the pandemic at health care facilities, restaurants, and shops.
"This is supposed to be a time where people come to DC and celebrate a peaceful transition of power. This is our opportunity to show the world what democracy is like, and right now, we have a president that puts his own interest in front of national security," he continued.
As the House debates over articles of impeachment, despite not having a seat in Congress due to DC's lack of statehood, Owolewa echoed the sentiments from many critics of the president and supported attempting to convict and oust Donald Trump.
"[Trump] is going to be impeached based off his comments that he made that incited a riot and today, I expect a bipartisan vote that will pass the articles of impeachment and send it over to the Senate for a vote," he said.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook's lawyer says she'll sue President Donald Trump's administration to try to prevent him from firing her. Longtime Washington attorney Abbe Lowell said Tuesday that Trump “has no authority to remove” Cook. If Trump succeeds in removing Cook from the Fed's board of governors, it could erode the Fed’s political independence, which is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables the Fed to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. The Republican president said Monday he was removing Cook because of allegations she committed mortgage fraud. Cook was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022 and says she won't step down.
Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook late Wednesday said she wouldn’t leave her post after Trump on social media called on her to resign over an accusation from one his officials that she committed mortgage fraud.
Politico's Marcia Brown breaks down the MAHA draft roadmap: industry-friendly, light on regulation, heavy on research and voluntary food policy changes.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan says he’s “always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards” after coming under pressure following President Donald Trump’s call for him to resign.
Millions of Americans saving for retirement through 401(k) accounts could have the option of putting their money in higher-risk private equity and cryptocurrency investments.
A new federal rule would make it easier for companies to use drones over longer distances out of sight of the operator without having to go through a cumbersome waiver process.
President Donald Trump has signed the GENIUS Act into law, setting new regulations for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency tied to assets like the U.S. dollar.
