Featured Image
Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash

What do President Trump’s executive orders mean for DC? | WUSA9

February 04, 2025
  • D.C. Policy Center

On January 24, 2025, Executive Director Yesim Sayin was quoted by WUSA9:

WUSA9 reached out to Yesim Sayin, the executive director of the D.C. Policy Center to help answer Jakala’s question. 

Sayin said the first thing to understand is that until 1973, Congress oversaw the operations of the District, but in 1974, it granted D.C. Home Rule. 

“Since then, the city had elected officials first on the school board, then a council and a mayor that took full control of the city’s own actions,” Sayin said.

In the past, President Trump and Republicans have talked about taking D.C. back.

“So that would mean that the federal government would be responsible for schools, for public safety, for transportation, for health, for investment in infrastructure,” Sayin said. “That would be a big headache I would imagine.”

For those reasons, Sayin said she can’t see the Trump administration revoking D.C. Home Rule. 

But that doesn’t mean D.C. won’t be affected by the second Trump presidency. 

“So just to be clear, the Congress always had the ability to interfere with the District’s own affairs, and they have done this regularly under all sorts of administrations,” Sayin said.

Yesim Sayin, a non profit leader said, the one place you will see an immediate effect is the Trump administration’s return to office order for federal workers.

“It will add some more activity downtown,” Sayin said. “That would be good in the short run for the city, but in the long run, this administration is also interested in reducing the workforce.”

Sayin said the Trump administration has moved federal jobs out of the city before, so it wouldn’t hurt to foster a relationship with the incoming administration.

“They are a creature of the federal government,” Sayin said on Friday. 

Read More: What do President Trump’s executive orders mean for DC?
Additional reading: Remote work and the future of D.C. (Part 2): What does remote work mean for the District of Columbia’s tax base?

Author

D.C. Policy Center


Established in 2016, the D.C. Policy Center is a non-partisan research and policy organization committed to advancing policies for a strong and vibrant economy in the District of Columbia. Through rigorous research and collaboration, the D.C. Policy Center develops and tests policy ideas, disseminates its findings, and engages in constructive dialogue and debate.

For more information, please see our About page.