WASHINGTON (AP) — Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., announced on Tuesday that she will not be seeking re-election next year, a decision that came as she has had to confront a federal law enforcement intervention into her city launched by President Donald Trump.
Bowser announced her decision in a video posted to social media, where she did not mention Trump or directly address his steps against the city. She applauded the cooperation with residents to make the city a better place to live and called on them to “summon our collective strength to stand tall against bullies who threaten our very autonomy while preserving Home Rule. That is our North Star.”
Bowser has served three terms since being first elected in 2014, none more tumultuous than the last year, when she found herself walking a fine line between staying in Trump’s good graces and responding to the concerns of constituents who said she should have pushed back more on actions taken by the president.
She was at the helm of a city that has long been reliant on the federal government. The district is granted autonomy through a limited home rule agreement passed in 1973, but federal political leaders retain significant control over local affairs, including the approval of the budget and laws passed by the D.C. Council.
The federal government’s involvement in local affairs hit another level in August when, after Trump issued an emergency order targeting the city. This federalized D.C.’s police force and sent hundreds of National Guard troops there for what the administration called a crime-fighting mission. Although the emergency period has lapsed, the federal law enforcement presence is still in the city, along with National Guard members from the district and several states, despite legal action against the military deployment.