H.R. 5103 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act of 2025
Cosponsors: 4 (0 D, 4 R) · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-08
Introduced: 2025-09-03
Latest action (2026-06-16): Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 437.
What H.R. 5103 does, in plain terms
Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act This bill establishes a commission in the executive branch to advise on certain criminal and immigration matters in the District of Columbia (DC). It also establishes a federal program to ensure that commonly visited areas in DC are cleaned and maintained. (On March 27, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful, which established a similar task force and program.) First, the bill establishes a commission made up of representatives from the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for DC, Maryland, and Virginia; specified federal agencies; and other designated federal entities. The commission must recommend actions to, among other tasks, address enforcement of federal immigration law in DC, facilitate the provision of federal resources to reduce crime, and assist with recruitment and retention of DC's Metropolitan Police Department officers. Next, the bill directs the Department of the Interior to establish a program to coordinate and maintain the cleanliness of commonly visited areas in DC, including monuments, parks, and roads. The program must also restore damaged or removed federal public monuments and similar properties. The bill's provisions terminate on January 2, 2029.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Constitutionally sound
Graded 2026-10-08
SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology
Constitutional advisory and housekeeping measure for the federal District under Article I, Section 8, Clause 17. Time-limited commission and Interior maintenance program create no rights infringement, sovereignty restriction, or due process taking.
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✓ Passes · Enumerated powers
Congress has explicit authority over the Seat of Government under Article I, Section 8, Clause 17, granting exclusive legislation over the District constituting the seat of government. Coordinating care of federal monuments, parks and roads in DC and advising on federal law enforcement and federal resources falls squarely within that grant, plus the Necessary and Proper Clause in Article I, Sectio… -
✓ Passes · Bill of Rights
No provision restricts speech, religion, press, assembly under the First Amendment, arms under the Second Amendment, or authorizes searches, seizures, or surveillance under the Fourth Amendment. The commission is advisory only and creates no criminal penalty, speech code, or enforcement power. -
✓ Passes · Individual sovereignty
The bill imposes no mandate, prohibition, or penalty on any person's body, property, speech, labor, or belief. It directs federal agencies and an advisory commission, not private conduct. The government therefore bears no burden to justify a restriction because none exists, consistent with the Ninth Amendment and the liberty protected by the Fifth Amendment. -
✓ Passes · Decentralization
For the federal District, federal coordination is the minimum necessary level. (1) Individuals cannot maintain national monuments, parks and arterial roads. (2) Local DC government alone cannot fund and manage federal parklands and monuments held by the United States. (3) No state has jurisdiction over DC. (4) The bill does not consolidate state or local police power upward; it creates an advisory… -
✓ Passes · Due process and takings
No deprivation of life, liberty, or property under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. No arrest, detention, forfeiture, or seizure procedure is created, so presumption of innocence and procedural due process are untouched. No taking of private property for public use occurs, so no just compensation analysis under the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause is triggered.
Sources: Congress.gov: HR 5103 summary
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