Martin Austermuhle

This might be the first time that D.C.’s CFO has been directly protested. Someone sent me a photo of a @freedcproject.bsky.social flyer posted outside his office in the Wilson Building today.

In the meantime, the body-worn camera footage component of Pinto’s bill is retroactive to last August, which means footage from the shootings involving federal agents (at least two where MPD was present) could be released at some point soon.

Anyhow, both are emergency bills, so they will remain in effect for 90 days. Permanent versions will have to be passed, and will be reviewed and can be repealed by Congress.

Ultimately they split the difference, somewhat: Pinto's bill dealt with body camera footage, and White's the documentation of federal agents.

As something of an aside, there was clear politics on display. Pinto and White, who are both running to be D.C. delegate, had introduced somewhat similar yet competing bills, setting off some bickering around which bill would do what and how.

There was some concern that with these two bills the council would essentially poke the bear that is the federal government and Congress.

"The issue here is one of principle. The principle is what is best for public safety, and that’s accountability," said @chmnmendelson.bsky.social.

For her part, @mayorbowser.dc.gov opposed the bills, arguing that it should be up to Congress to require federal agents to wear body cameras. And Interim MPD Chief Jeffery Carroll said collecting names from federal agents would be too logistically challenging.

"The federal administration is keeping the council and the government in the dark… but that doesn’t mean we should be part of the obfuscation," said @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social.

"There's nothing radical about transparency," said @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social.

The second bill (from @robertwhitedc.bsky.social) requires that MPD collect names, badge numbers, and agency name of federal agents who make arrests while patrolling with MPD officers.

The first bill (from Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto) requires that whenever a federal agent uses deadly force, body-camera footage from any MPD officers patrolling with them be made public within five days.

The bills attempt to bridge the gap between transparency laws that apply to MPD officers, but not federal agents patrolling alongside them. And they respond to incidents where federal agents fired their guns at D.C. residents, but fe details were made public.

NEWS: The D.C. Council unanimously passed two bills aimed at shedding more light on federal agents patrolling in D.C.

One would release more body-camera footage from local police when federal agents use deadly force. Another would collect names of federal agents.

The bills attempt to bridge the gap between transparency laws that apply to MPD officers, but not federal agents patrolling alongside them. And they respond to incidents where federal agents fired their guns at D.C. residents, but fe details were made public.

NEWS: The D.C. Council unanimously passed two bills aimed at shedding more light on federal agents patrolling in D.C.

One would release more body-camera footage from local police when federal agents use deadly force. Another would collect names of federal agents.

Some councilmembers are frustrated that there hasn't been a meeting between them, the mayor, the attorney general, and the CFO to hash out what to do about decoupling. All the while there's no legal or political clarity, and residents and businesses continue filing their returns.

UPDATE: The meeting broke up after an hour, and I'm told there's no consensus among councilmembers on how to proceed on decoupling. Members are waiting to hear directly from the CFO on whether he agrees with the AG that Congress did not repeal the decoupling bill.

If D.C.'s CFO or the council decide to abandon their efforts to decouple, ongoing tax-filing season will have to pause for an indefinite time and deadlines will be delayed, potentially for months.

The D.C. Council has been meeting behind closed doors for the last 30 minutes or so to discuss the ongoing decoupling drama. Today could be a critical day in terms of clarity on whether D.C. will continue to treat decoupling as the law of the land or not.

Bowser isn't wrong that it would take congressional/executive action to require that federal agents use body-worn cameras and not conceal their faces or identities. But whether D.C. releases more body-camera footage from its own officers patrolling with them is a local decision.

New bill would require more transparency on federal agents operating in D.C. MPD would have to share its body-camera footage and the names of federal agents in use-of-force incidents.

One of the bills is from Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto; I reported on it here: 51st.news/dc-federal-o...

Another bill from @robertwhitedc.bsky.social would similarly require that D.C. keep track of what federal agents are out on patrol with MPD.

NEWS: @mayorbowser.dc.gov is asking the D.C. Council to vote against a pair of bills that would require more transparency on federal agents operating in the city, largely by mandating that body-camera footage from D.C. officers they patrol with be released when serious force is used.

Interesting: In her responses to the @mdcdsa.org candidate questionnaire, @janeese4dc.bsky.social says she's aiming to get 70,000 votes to win the mayoral primary. Bowser's best was 62,000 in 2022; Vince Gray got 72,000 in 2010. She also wants to knock on 500,000 doors.

So, should you file your taxes? It's currently a big shrug from pretty much everyone. The CFO says residents and businesses can like they normally would. But if and when things might have to stop (and get delayed) remains totally unclear.

There's rumors that some D.C. lawmakers may want to try and recouple, effectively ending this dispute altogether.

"That would be very unpopular with residents who are tired of seeing government officials acquiesce to federal bullying," says @chmnmendelson.bsky.social.

If the CFO decides that decoupling didn't happen, then tax-filing will have to stop, forms and guidance will have to be redone, deadlines will be pushed back, and the tens of thousands of residents who have already filed returns may have to do so again.

For now that D.C. attorney general says that Congress didn't actually repeal the D.C. Council's decoupling bill, and the city's CFO seems to be proceeding like that's the case. But his lawyers could decide they disagree with the AG, and that the decoupling bill isn't law.

D.C. TAXES UPDATE: There's still no final resolution in the fight between D.C. and Congress over whether the city has decoupled itself from some of the Trump tax cuts or not. Tax-filing continues as normal, but there's still a chance it could be stopped and delayed.

Starting today, @doeedc.bsky.social (with assistance from the EPA) will be doing daily water-quality testing, increasing from what has been weekly testing to date.

Below is the water testing data from when the break happened in January to last week. Even the E. coli levels closest to the pipe break site have come down; D.C. Water officials said last week they hadn't had a sewage overflow into the Potomac since February 8.

NEWS: As was teased two weeks ago, D.C. is lifting its advisory for the Potomac River in the wake of the big sewage spill in January. Testing has generally found E. coli levels in D.C. to be within safe levels, and that’s held since mid-February.