ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Here in Washington, D.C., people have been sharing photos and videos of federal agents patrolling the streets. After increasing federal law enforcement last weekend, President Trump declared an emergency yesterday. He triggered a federal takeover of the police department and deployed hundreds of National Guard troops to the District. He says it's to fight crime, even though police data show that violent crime is at a 30-year low. District leaders are reluctantly cooperating, and one of those leaders is with us now. Chairman of the D.C. Council Phil Mendelson, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
PHIL MENDELSON: Thank you very much.
SHAPIRO: Tell us what specific changes you've seen in the last day since this takeover.
MENDELSON: Well, I know that there's more interaction between federal law enforcement agencies and our Metropolitan Police Department. There's been some increased presence - I don't know that I would characterize it as patrolling, but some additional presence of federal officials or federal law enforcement in areas of the city but not our high-crime areas. And I know that there are National Guardsmen that are showing up for duty.
SHAPIRO: You have said that this is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission, but it doesn't sound like you're urging defiance. Is there anything you find useful about having hundreds of extra pairs of hands to help meet city needs right now?
MENDELSON: Well, let me say two things. First, there's no value (ph) in our being defiant. The District is unlike any other jurisdiction in that the federal government can step in in various ways. They govern the city if they want to. With regard to usefulness, yes, additional resources are always welcome and helpful, but those are resources that help us with solving cases. We also need judges to be appointed. The federal government has to do that. And of course, we need more resources, like fully funding - or rather fully reimbursing us for police department expenses related to the federal government and the diplomatic community.
SHAPIRO: Also...
MENDELSON: So there are ways that they can be helpful.
SHAPIRO: Also striking that you said the additional agents you've seen have not been in areas with the highest crime.
MENDELSON: Yes, and I think that's worth noting. I think this is more about the show of presence, as well as, you know, maybe protecting federal buildings - although I don't know that they need protection - or federal monuments. I didn't know that they weren't being adequately protected, but it does seem to be oriented that way.
SHAPIRO: Well, in addition to fighting crime, President Trump says he wants to clean up homeless encampments immediately and has not said much about where people will go, just that they will be far from D.C. Have you begun to see people relocated? Do you know where they're going?
MENDELSON: I don't know where they're going, and I think they're the beginning steps. A lot of the homeless encampments - and let me just say that we're not unusual compared to other cities in having homeless population on our streets - actually less than in many other cities. But a lot of those homeless encampments are on federal land now. And so the federal government is really the only jurisdiction (ph) or agency that's in a position to do something about it.
SHAPIRO: Oh, you're saying he could have done that even before the takeover?
MENDELSON: Correct. Like, for instance, homeless encampments in Rock Creek Park or in some of the triangle parks - those are all federal land, and the federal government already had the authority to do something. We'd like them to treat these folks humanely, and the president's rhetoric suggests otherwise. But we haven't actually seen what's going to happen.
SHAPIRO: The charter that allowed President Trump to do this says Congress has to approve any extension beyond 30 days. Do you expect this to continue longer than a month? Are you lobbying Congress to try to get it to end after 30 days?
MENDELSON: Well, since this is only Day 2, it's too soon to say whether there'll be any lobbying. I really don't know. I think that we will see over the next couple of weeks what the results actually are. I know additional presence over the weekend resulted in maybe a couple of arrests, and I think they were quality-of-life-type crimes. I don't think that's a compelling case for extending this. But then again, the fact that crime is - violent crime is the lowest it's been in 30 years and is still going down suggests that this is - there's not the crisis and this - it's not necessary and certainly not necessary for more than 30 days.
SHAPIRO: As you've said, D.C. is not like any other American city, and this takeover is happening under a provision that is unique to Washington. But at the same time, President Trump warned other cities to take note. Earlier this summer, he deployed National Guard troops in Los Angeles over local objections. What is your advice to leaders of other cities wondering if they could be next?
MENDELSON: Well, I'm not sure how to advise them. The District is unique, so the president has some entree here that he doesn't have in other cities. I wonder whether some of this is about just using the District as an example of attacking a perceived liberal city and trying to score points.
SHAPIRO: Finally, let me ask you about a different conflict between the federal government and the D.C. government. The city budget is more than a billion dollars short because when Congress funded the federal government in March, it did not pass a provision to allow D.C. to spend its own money as it usually does. President Trump signaled support for a fix to this back in March. That still has not happened. Where does that stand?
MENDELSON: Well, nothing has happened. So the Senate - this is going back to March - realized at the 11th hour the mistake and passed separate legislation before it recessed to fix the problem. The bill was promptly sent to the House, and it continues to sit at the speaker's desk. It's never been referred. It's never been put on the floor. It's a billion-dollar cut to our budget. These are not federal dollars. And in fact, the revenues are still being collected. It's just that under the Congressional action, or inaction, we were precluded from being able to spend that money. So it's money that's going to be left over at the end of the year, but it's created a lot of difficulty.
SHAPIRO: Phil Mendelson is chairman of the D.C. Council. Thank you so much for speaking with us today.
MENDELSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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