GOP rep calls to strip power from DC and for Black Lives Matter Plaza to be 'paved over'
One House Republican who has long sought to curtail Washington, D.C.'s sovereignty is now pushing for President-elect Donald Trump to help him not only tighten Congress' screws on D.C.'s elected government, but also wants to erase one of the city's most high-profile racial justice monuments.
According to the Daily Caller, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga) is planning to introduce a bill to further put the nation's capital city even further under the thumb of Congress by drastically transforming the "home rule" policy that currently governs the city. And he told the publication he's also seeking to eliminate Black Lives Matter Plaza on 16th and K Street Northwest, reverting the street back to its initial design.
As Destination D.C. (the official tourism website for Washington, D.C.) notes on its website, Black Lives Matter Plaza was inspired in the wake of the nationwide protests that followed the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky at the hands of police. After a massive protest at Lafayette Square was met with tear gas and a violent response by riot police, local artists painted the phrase "Black Lives Matter" on the street across from the White House. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. City Council made the installation permanent and blocked the road from non-pedestrian traffic.
"I would think that that is something that we should do. You have a street that is blocked off. It should not be blocked off. You have businesses that are negatively affected by it and they shouldn’t be negatively affected by it," Clyde said. "The Black Lives Matter movement in and of itself should be All Lives Matter, not just Black Lives Matter, but All Lives Matter."
"So in that respect, I don’t agree with this. And the fact that the city spent almost $5 million on it is an incredible waste of money. And then to maintain it, another waste of money," he added. "So, honestly, the street needs to go back to the way it was, which is a public thoroughfare and the Black Lives Matter wording needs to be paved over."
Clyde pointed out that Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress jurisdiction over D.C. Currently, Congress has a time limit to strike any laws that the city passes. But under Clyde's legislation, no legislation D.C.'s elected government passes would go into effect without the explicit blessing of Congress. D.C. has run afoul of Congress in the past, as a ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana within city limits was overridden by Congress.
"President Trump said that he planned on cleaning up the city," Clyde told the Caller. "We’re going to help him do that."
Click here to read the Caller's full report.
