Bowser reiterates call for DC statehood after Capitol riots

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) reiterated her call for statehood the day after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, prompting the calling up of the District’s National Guard, which can only be done by the executive branch. 

“We must get statehood on the president’s desk within the first 100 days of the 117th Congress,” Bowser said during a Thursday morning press conference. “Congress must immediately transfer command of the District of Columbia National Guard from the president of the United States and put it squarely under the command and control of the District of Columbia.”

When asked how she would have responded to Wednesday’s riots as a governor instead of a mayor, she said, “We would not be restricted in any way for how to deploy the Guard, so we wouldn’t have to clear a deployment plan with the secretary of the Army.”

Bowser additionally called on Congress to establish a nonpartisan commission to “understand the catastrophic security failures” at the Capitol after rioters overwhelmed Capitol Police, stormed the building and forced an evacuation. 

She also requested further information on “why federal law enforcement response was much stronger at the [Black Lives Matter] protest over the summer than during yesterday’s attack on Congress.”

Bowser appealed to the Joint Terrorism Task Forces “to investigate, arrest and prosecute any individual who entered the Capitol, destroyed property or incited acts of domestic terrorism.”

The mayor also joined the calls for President Trump to “be held accountable for this unprecedented attack on our democracy.”

“What happened yesterday is what he wanted to happen, and we must not underestimate the damage he can do to our nation and our democracy over the next two weeks,” she said.

Several lawmakers have called for Trump’s removal, either through impeachment or through invoking the 25th Amendment, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), the first Republican to call for the 25th Amendment to be used against him. 

Bowser had resurfaced the push for D.C. statehood on Wednesday before the Capitol riots after Democrats secured a majority in the Senate following wins in the two Georgia runoff elections.