The Politics Hour: What recent White House moves mean for D.C. and Maryland

The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi

President Trump is expected to issue an executive order focused on crime and homeless encampments in the District. Some fear this could be a first step toward the White House stripping away the District’s ability to govern itself. D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson joined the show to weigh in.

Plus, we asked Mendelson’s thoughts on the long-term future of the RFK Stadium site. The question of using taxpayer dollars to subsidize the construction of a multi-billion dollar stadium is expected to be a major sticking point in the conversation. At Thursday’s community meeting in Ward seven, D-C Mayor Muriel Bowser alluded to the possibility of the city spending money to sweeten the deal for the team.

Mendelson disagrees with using public money andited his long standing view on the issue. “I think there are a lot of advantages to a stadium. But we also know from research in city after city after city… public dollars don’t have that return,” he said. The stadium would likely anchor a larger development including a sports and entertainment complex, retail, and housing.

A Virginia House subcommittee this week tabled the much-discussed Fairfax County casino bill. Does this mean the effort to bring a casino and entertainment complex to Tysons has gone bust? We asked WAMU’s Northern Virginia reporter Margaret Barthel. And what’s the future of the Virginia Democratic Party now that Susan Swecker is stepping down after a decade at the helm?

Maryland is one of the states suing the Trump administration over recent executive actions, from ending birthright citizenship to granting Elon Musk access to sensitive Treasury Department data. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown joined Kojo and Tom to break down the legal strategy and why it is necessary.

“Elon Musk is in the central payment system. Maryland gets eleven billion dollars through that system and Marylanders get fifty-one billion,” Brown said. “So, the 1.5 million to protect Marylanders and defend the interest of the state are well worth it.”

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