Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and other local officials will testify Thursday in front of the House Oversight Committee on the city's crime rates

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and Attorney General of the District of Colombia Brian Schwalb are two of the three city leaders expected to testify before a House committee Thursday. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and other local officials will testify Thursday before the House Oversight Committee on the city's crime and the general oversight of the district.

In August, President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in the district and took over law enforcement there. He sent federal agents, National Guard troops and others to patrol the streets of Washington and prevent crime.

The witnesses who will testify are Bowser; Phil Mendelson, chair of the D.C. Council; and Brian Schwalb, D.C. attorney general.

"All Americans should feel safe in their capital city, but radical left-wing policies pushed by the D.C. Council have created an environment for truancy and violent crime to flourish," Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said last week in a press release announcing the event. "This committee is fulfilling its constitutional duty to oversee district affairs and will continue working to ensure a D.C. that is safe and prosperous for all Americans."

The House this week also adopted four bills to overhaul the criminal justice system in D.C. and change how juvenile cases are adjudicated.

Bowser is expected to be the center of attention at the hearing. She's been trying a softer approach to Trump's takeover and trying to work with him instead of against him. But she also said that her vision of the partnership between the city and federal government "respects the will of D.C. residents and honors the principles of home rule."

Her critics have argued that the softer approach hasn't worked and has made the city more vulnerable to federal attacks.

In the past month, Schwalb has sued the Trump administration twice.

"We are suing to defend D.C. home rule and stop the unlawful deployment of the National Guard," Schwalb said in an X post on Sept. 4. "Our nation was founded on the fundamental principles of freedom and self-governance that are at stake in this case."

The committee just voted to turn his office, which is elected, into a presidential appointment. In response, he sent a letter to the House committee's leaders, saying, "Substituting the will of D.C. voters with the whim of federal politicians is undemocratic and un-American."

Mendelson has pointed out to the committee, which blames local leadership for the city's crime, that much of the city's criminal justice system is controlled by the federal government. There are judgeships that are awaiting presidential appointment and a shortage of prosecutors.

"These are things that Congress and only Congress can do -- we cannot do -- and they have a direct impact on reducing crime and improving public safety in the city," he said.