To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to provide for the appointment of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia by the President, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Pat Fallon
R-TX | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
ReportedAdditional sponsor: Mr. Higgins of Louisiana
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Fallon introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill transfers control of the District of Columbia Attorney General position from D.C. voters to the President of the United States. Currently, D.C. residents elect their own Attorney General; this bill would make it a presidential appointment instead, with the Attorney General serving at the President's pleasure and their term coinciding with the President's term.
Who Benefits and How
The President gains significant new power over D.C. governance by controlling who serves as the District's chief legal officer. The White House would be able to appoint an Attorney General aligned with federal priorities without requiring Senate confirmation, streamlining the appointment process. Future presidents could use this authority to influence D.C. law enforcement priorities and legal decisions.
Who Bears the Burden and How
District of Columbia residents lose the democratic right to elect their own Attorney General, reducing local self-governance. The current sitting Attorney General would be immediately terminated upon enactment. D.C. government officials may face reduced independence as legal decisions could be influenced by presidential priorities rather than local interests.
Key Provisions
- Amends the D.C. Home Rule Act to make the Attorney General a presidential appointment rather than an elected position
- Eliminates Senate confirmation requirement for the D.C. Attorney General
- Sets the Attorney General's term to coincide with the President's term (effectively a 4-year appointment)
- The Attorney General serves "at the pleasure of the President," meaning they can be removed at any time
- Terminates the current Attorney General's term immediately upon the bill's enactment
- Clarifies that Office of the Attorney General employees remain D.C. employees, not federal employees
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
This bill amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to change the appointment process for the Attorney General, allowing them to be appointed by the President without Senate confirmation.
Policy Domains
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology