The House passed two bills on Tuesday to assert congressional control over the District of Columbia’s sentencing policies, the first portion of a slate of legislation coming to a vote this week aimed at overhauling the criminal justice system of Washington, D.C.

The first bill is the D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act, or DC CRIMES Act, which would prohibit the District’s local officials from changing sentencing laws and restrict the ability of local judges to be more lenient with younger criminals.

And the second bill, H.R. 5140, lowers the age for which youth offenders can be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses, changing the threshold to 14 years of age.

The DC CRIMES Act passed 240-179, while H.R. 5140 passed 225-203.

Republicans are set to vote

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