Trump asking Congress for $2 billion to fix Washington, D.C.

The Trump White House is doubling down on a plan to tap federal money to improve roads and streetlamps in Washington, D.C., a financial task that will require an act of Congress.  

“We’re going to be raising about $2 billion from Congress, and Congress is happy to do it, and we’re going to wisely spend the money,” said Trump. 

Trump zeroed in on streetlamps with mismatched lenses and rusted poles as focus points in a three-mile radius around The White House that would be beautified during the one-year project. 

The city typically pays for its own street repairs and in 2022 issued bonds to facilitate a public private partnership to upgrade its streetlights by switching out incandescent lamps for LEDs. 

The federal government maintains oversight over the city’s finances and struck a blow in March by forcing Washington  to revert to its 2024 budget numbers for the duration of fiscal 2025 resulting in a $1.1 billion cut.  

The Senate passed legislation to restore the money, a move backed by Trump, but the House has failed to take the matter up. 

Sen. Mark Warner D- Va., is sending out reminders about the $1 billion dispute.  

“If Trump really cared about the safety of the residents of D.C., he probably would have started by placing more pressure on the Republican House to fix a tiny logistical hiccup that cost D.C. $1 billion – hurting local police,” said Warner in a post on X. “Instead, D.C. still isn’t able to access its tax dollars.” 

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Katie Britt R-Ala., have been tapped by Trump to lead Congress towards finding the new $2 billion while the appropriations process is already behind schedule and paused until September.   

The beautification efforts come on the heels of Trump calling up over 2,200 troops from the National Guard to aid local police efforts by declaring a 30-day crime emergency, despite city statistics showing low numbers for violent crime. 

The President has called the accuracy of the statistics into question, calling them “phony numbers.” He’s also signaled that he would end “Home Rule,” the 1973 legislation that allow an elected mayor and city council to govern local affairs and tried to replace the city’s chief of police.  

“The Home Rule Act permits the president to direct D.C.’s mayor to provide the ‘services’ of Metropolitan Police Department for ‘federal purposes’ when ‘an emergency nature exists,’ not to replace D.C.’s police chief,” said Eleanor Holmes Norton, the city’s non-voting representative in the House. 

“I’ve said repeatedly that the president’s actions are unlawful.” 

The Guard troops are now authorized to carry weapons after initially being deployed unarmed.

The President is also talking about sending the National Guard into Chicago and Baltimore, two more cities overseen by Democratic Mayors.

He’s escalated the fight to the Governor’s office in Maryland by threatening to pull federal funds away from repairing the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. 

The toll bridge was struck by a container ship in March and is currently under repair. 

Trump’s squabbles with Democrat controlled cities took a loss last week when a federal judge expanded an order blocking the Trump administration from pulling federal funds away from cities and counties deemed to be too soft on enforcing immigration laws.