House Passes Bill Lowering Age Suspects Can Be Charged As Adults In DC

The Republican-led House on Tuesday approved two bills aimed at curbing juvenile crime in Washington, D.C., and is scheduled to take up two additional related measures on Wednesday.

One measure passed Tuesday, the D.C. CRIMES Act, lowers the maximum age for trying offenders as juveniles from 24 to 18. It also requires sentences to match adult mandatory minimums and directs the city to publish public data on youth crime.

The second bill, the Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act, permits minors as young as 14 to be tried as adults for serious offenses. While both measures drew some Democratic support, the Reform Act passed by a slimmer margin than the CRIMES Act.

“Fully grown legal adults in the District of Columbia can receive sentences meant for children. That is simply insane,” said CRIME act sponsor Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican, per Just the News.

The legislation is part of a broader package of about a dozen House measures advanced as President Trump deploys the National Guard and calls on federal agencies, including the DEA and ICE, to address violent crime and illegal immigration in Washington, D.C.

Bills that pass the House will head to the Republican-controlled Senate, where their prospects remain unclear. In 2023, however, the Senate did approve a House measure blocking the District from easing criminal penalties — a bill later signed by then-President Joe Biden.

“I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule, but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections such as lowering penalties for carjackings,” Biden tweeted.

District residents elect their own local lawmakers, but under the 1973 Home Rule Act, Congress retains broad oversight of the D.C. government.

According to reports, the two bills set for House consideration Wednesday would permit police to physically pursue suspects in certain cases and curb the District’s role in approving local judicial appointments — further fueling debate over the city’s criminal justice autonomy, Just the News added.

Trump last month called up elements of the DC National Guard and surged federal agents into the nation’s capital in a bid to drive down criminal activity.

In the first week after the White House assumed control of Washington, D.C.’s police force, the city recorded a modest drop in reported crime but a sharp increase in immigration-related arrests, according to a CNN analysis of government data.

For the week beginning August 12 — the first full week under federal control — property crimes fell by about 19 percent compared to the week prior, while violent crime dropped 17 percent, based on the most recent Metropolitan Police Department statistics.

The trends varied by category. Robberies and car break-ins fell by more than 40 percent, while thefts remained flat. Burglary cases rose 6 percent, and assaults with a dangerous weapon increased 14 percent. Two homicides occurred during the period, consistent with recent weeks, though none have been reported since August 13.

Federal agencies have embedded with local police, assisting in arrests, searches, and warrant executions while patrolling the city in unmarked vehicles, CNN noted further.

At the same time, immigration enforcement surged. Since August 7, federal officials have arrested about 300 individuals in the district without legal immigration status — more than ten times the typical weekly number of ICE arrests in the city, CNN found.

In response to CNN’s report, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson stated that the media was attempting to dismiss the “exceptional results” of Trump’s efforts in Washington, D.C.

“The drops in crime are not ‘moderate,’ they are life-changing for the countless of DC residents and visitors who have not been murdered, robbed, carjacked, or victims of overall violent crime in the last week,” Jackson said. “The priority of this operation remains getting violent criminals off the streets — regardless of immigration status.”