I’ve never been a believer in coincidence. So when a mayor, a police chief, a congressional delegate and multiple council members all announce departures within a span of roughly 60 days, I start asking questions. I become suspicious. My mind immediately asks, “What do they know that we don’t’? Is this mere happenstance or a foreboding of things to come?” Let’s start with a little walk through history.
Between November 25, 2025 and January 27, 2026, Mayor Muriel Bowser, Police Chief Pamela Smith, and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton all announced plans to leave their positions. Combined with departures on the D.C. Council, the city suddenly faces one of its largest leadership transitions in decades. Shake-ups of this kind are usually associated with financial or political unrest. For example:
Home Rule Transition (1973–1975)
During this period D.C. went from federally appointed leadership to elected leadership. The entire governing structure changed. Home Rule ushered in a new mayoral office, and city council replaced commissioners, resulting in a whole new political infrastructure. Although this was less of an exodus, it still represents a significant change on the political infrastructure. The transition fundamentally altered who governed the city and how power was exercised.
The Financial Control Board Era (1995–1999)
This is probably one of the most challenging periods in modern D.C. history and a strong comparison to today’s events, albeit for somewhat different reasons. During the mid-1990s D.C. faced a fiscal crisis. Congress created the D.C. Financial Control Board that took control of much of the city’s finances. Senior officials left office, agencies were reorganized, and public confidence in city government was shaken. It was an embarrassment to the city as anti-Home Rule congressmen reveled in the perception that a predominantly Black city couldn’t govern its own finances. This preceded the third major disruption – the replacement of Marion Barry.
The End of the Barry Era (1998–2000)
Marion Barry stepped aside and Anthony Williams became mayor. This move was preceded by almost a decade of disruption in D.C., starting with the FBI sting operation in 1990 at the Vista Hotel. This generational shift included new leadership across agencies and the Council. Anthony Williams led the city out of “financial receivership” towards a more “technocratic” reform era. Williams was seen as a numbers guy and lacked the flamboyance and personality of Marion Barry. Despite the mixed feelings people had towards Williams, mainly fueled by resentment for how Barry had been treated, he guided the city through a very difficult period.
The Trump Effect (2025- Present)
Since Trump’s return to office, top D.C. leaders have watched the federal government reassert authority over policing, legislation that would override local laws, and debates about rolling back elements of Home Rule. Consider the following:
Executive Order 14333 (August 11, 2025) Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia
Trump used this Executive order to declare that crime was out of control in the city and depicting raging violence in the streets of D.C. However, his additional police presence was directed to the already quiet downtown dining areas and other prominent neighborhoods versus the areas of the city that could benefit from more and better policing. It also federalized the Metropolitan Police Department to for a short period of time.
H.R. 5183 — District of Columbia Home Rule Improvement Act of 2025
“The bill applies a 60-day period of congressional review to all D.C. legislation other than emergency legislation. It also authorizes Congress to nullify (1) extensions of emergency D.C. legislation, and (2) one or more discrete provisions in D.C. legislation. The bill prohibits the D.C. Council from withdrawing legislation that it has transmitted to Congress for review or enacting legislation that is substantially the same as legislation that Congress disapproved.”
H.R.2056 – District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act of 2025
“Specifically, the bill bars D.C. from adopting a law, policy, or practice prohibiting D.C. governmental entities from sending, receiving, maintaining, or exchanging information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual with a federal, state, or local government entity.
Further, D.C. may not adopt a law, policy, or practice of not complying with lawful requests from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to comply with a detainer for, or notify about the release of, an individual from custody. (A detainer is a formal request from DHS that a state or locality hold an individual in custody for up to 48 hours after the individual would otherwise be released so that DHS may facilitate the individual’s removal).”
H.R.5179 – District of Columbia Attorney General Appointment Reform Act of 2025
This bill vests the President with the authority to appoint the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (D.C.) for a term that coincides with the term of office of the President. The bill provides that the appointment is not subject to confirmation in the Senate.
You get the picture. Every major disruption involved a change in who ultimately exercises power. During Home Rule, power moved from Congress-appointed officials to elected local officials. During the Control Board era, power shifted back toward federal oversight. Anthony Williams shifted from the old political machine politics toward managerial governance and oversight. The Trump era is signaling a power struggle again between local and federal authorities. Although separated by decades, each of these periods revolved around the same question: who ultimately governs Washington, D.C., its residents or someone else?
It’s easy for residents to assume the current flurry of federal intervention will fade if Democrats regain control of Congress. History suggests otherwise. Democrats joined Republicans in overturning D.C.’s criminal code rewrite in 2023. The federal Financial Control Board emerged from a bipartisan consensus in the 1990s. For decades, Congresses controlled by both parties have overridden local laws and restricted the District’s budget authority. They also preserved a system in which Washington remains uniquely vulnerable to federal interference. The faces and tactics may change, but the fundamental challenge to Home Rule predates Trump and will likely outlast him. And as the demographics continue to change, so will D.C.’s politics.
This flood of legislative actions intended to undermine Home Rule are intimidating to say the least, and all the more reason to have political leaders ready to fight for D.C.’s right to self-governance. Unfortunately, these departures are occurring during a period of extraordinary political uncertainty for D.C. residents. Whether these departures are connected to those challenges is impossible to know. What is clear is that they are occurring at the very moment those challenges are intensifying.
We may discover years from now that these departures were nothing more than routine retirements and career transitions. Or we may look back on this moment as the beginning of another major turning point in the city’s political history. The question isn’t whether D.C. is changing. It always has. The question is whether the leaders now leaving office see changes coming that the rest of us have yet to fully recognize. Given my distrust of coincidence, I lean towards the latter.
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Featured image/photo by Romain Dancre on Unsplash.