By Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon
President Trump made waves last week when he announced he was federalizing the Washington, D.C., police department under the terms of the Home Rule Act of 1973. Leftist talking heads predictably cried “fascism,” forgetting that the federal government directly operated D.C. for nearly 200 years.
Doesn’t it seem like the other party thinks high crime in big cities is just normal? Every once-great American city—New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and more—now has no-go zones where law-abiding people dare not enter for fear of losing life and limb.
Even Northwest cities like Portland and Seattle used to be considered safe from the tidal wave of crime. But would you walk those streets alone in the middle of the night?
It doesn’t have to be that way, and President Trump is proving it. In the days since his announcement, crime in the District of Columbia has dropped tremendously. Unsafe cities, high crime, and urban decline are policy choices—they are not inevitable. When the same voices that called for defunding the police during the riots of 2020 say that enforcing the law is “fascism,” we can safely ignore them. They clearly have no idea what they’re talking about.
Thankfully, Boise is not yet as far gone as Portland, Los Angeles, or Washington, D.C. But it will no doubt go in that direction if we let it. Democratic policies inevitably lead to decline—we’ve seen it happen again and again. We don’t want that to happen to our beautiful capital city.
The Legislature has been stepping up. Last session, Sen. Codi Galloway, a Boise resident herself, carried a bill to prohibit camping in public parks and on city streets. That bill nipped in the bud what cities like Portland and San Francisco allowed to grow into a massive problem. We have many good ministries to help those in need, such as the Boise Rescue Mission, so there’s no reason to allow our city to be overrun with homeless encampments that bring crime, drug use, and urban decay.
We can learn from the mistakes of America’s other big cities and avoid them here in Idaho. We shouldn’t wait until the crime rate skyrockets to act—we should proactively enforce the law and make sure criminals know Idaho is not a welcoming place for their trade.
I applaud President Trump for doing what is necessary to clean up D.C.’s streets. Having our national capital—the site of so much American heritage and history—be a crime-ridden hellhole where citizens and tourists are afraid to walk says a lot about the state of our country. Imagine if our own Capitol grounds were covered in trash and graffiti, where visitors were harassed by criminals just for trying to enter the doors. That would be to our shame.
The state of Washington, D.C., is the shame of our nation, and President Trump is going to clean it up. Let’s make sure Idaho never gets to that point.
About Dorothy Moon
Dorothy Moon was elected to serve as the chairwoman of the Idaho Republican Party in July of 2022, and reelected in 2024. Moon served three terms in the Idaho Legislature as State Representative for District 8. Moon’s career in public service has focused on the advancement of individual liberties and reducing the size and scope of government.
