Republicans are embracing President Trump’s bare-knuckled fight with Washington, D.C., as a winning issue for the embattled president and say that Trump will use federal funding for the city as leverage to get Mayor Muriel Bowser and the City Council to crack down on local crime.

Conservatives on Capitol Hill are calling for Congress to end the District of Columbia’s era of home rule and federalize the city, something that has little chance of happening since legislation to do so would need 60 votes and the support of at least seven Democrats to pass the Senate.

Trump and his Republican allies in Congress, however, could extract significant concessions from the mayor and City Council in return for critical funding, as a proposal to restore more than $1 billion in funding for Washington r

See Full Page