Comprehensive Crime Bill ‘a Very Real Possibility,’ House Speaker Says

In a Friday media blitz, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson confirmed that the “comprehensive crime bill” that President Donald Trump proposed earlier this week is in the works.

“It is a very real possibility,” said Johnson, R-La., on Fox News.

On Wednesday, Trump wrote on social media that “Speaker Mike Johnson and [Senate Majority] Leader John Thune are working with me, and other Republicans, on a Comprehensive Crime Bill.”

 But Johnson quickly pivoted on Fox to discussing legislation to support Trump’s authority in Washington, D.C.

“We’re going to be bringing legislation to the floor in the next few weeks to address that issue first—that city—to deal with juvenile crime … and to talk about these restrictive policing policies that have prevented law enforcement from maintaining the safety on the streets for residents and visitors,” the Louisiana lawmaker said.

That may have been a reference in part to extending Trump’s authority to control D.C.’s law enforcement, which expires on Sept. 10, when it will require approval from Congress to continue under the District’s Home Rule Act of 1973.

Johnson also said that he had promised Trump to “give [him] the resources and the authority necessary to complete this job because it is wildly popular.”

In a separate interview on CNN, Johnson was pressed on whether it would be only a Washington crime bill, or if a national crime bill could be in the works.

“It’ll be both. There will be components,” he said. 

“We’re going to handle D.C. first, because that’s directly within our purview, and then look to other cities around America as well. We’ve got to also end these policing policies that have prevented law enforcement from actually keeping safety on the streets.”