By Melissa Silverman
In just the first month of the second Trump Administration, a dizzying array of changes across the federal government had a direct impact on Southwest DC. In a quadrant packed with federal buildings and buzzing with federal employees and DC residents who are denied full voting rights, all politics might be local, but they are national, too.
The fast-paced change from the executive branch was felt in Southwest across a number of sectors in the early months of 2025, including jobs and the economy, real estate and development, and Home Rule and self-governance.
Jobs and the Economy
Southwest is home to more than half a dozen federal agencies, from the Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy to the Department of Education and NASA, with several more just across South Capitol Street in Navy Yard and Near Southeast. Whether they live, work, shop or dine near their offices, the tens of thousands of federal employees who pass through these buildings are part of the Southwest community and economy.
Following Executive Orders from President Donald Trump to reduce the number of federal employees, limit future hires, and require federal agencies to work with the Department of Government Efficiency, (DOGE) Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said in a press release that “dedicated public servants are losing their jobs without cause, and the Americans who depend on the services provided by the federal government are Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike.”
In his constituent newsletter, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen noted that “rapid-fire attacks on so many different agencies – and the people who have given so much of their careers to serve others – hits DC, and especially Ward 6, hard.” Allen noted that “these public servants have not only dedicated their lives to serving their country but making their homes in the District” and that he has heard from “many neighbors working in the federal government who are anxious, frustrated, angry, and waiting for what’s going to happen next.”
Allen offered a reminder that the “District government is still here,” and encouraged impacted constituents to reach out to his office for information about local resources.
Real Estate and Development
On January 28, just eight days after Inauguration Day, an open meeting of the Public Buildings Reform Board, an independent federal agency created in 2016 to identify underutilized federal properties for sale or redevelopment, highlighted the possibility of a radically transformed Southwest stretching from the waterfront to the National Mall.
Board members were joined for the public meeting, titled “Opportunities for Changing the Federal City,” by current and former DC officials, including Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert and former mayor Anthony Williams in his current capacity as CEO of the Federal City Council.
Architecture and design firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill delivered a presentation titled “A New Vision for Our Nation’s Capital,” proposing to utilize 28 government owned or leased buildings in Southwest to connect “the Mall’s cultural institutions to the Wharf’s waterfront entertainment.”
The proposal stretches across 42 city blocks, identifying over 15 million square feet of office space as 87% “available or underused” and suggesting a transformation across 250 acres with more than 13 million square feet available for redevelopment.
The presentation, available to the public at pbrb.gov, explicitly states that past attempts at “urban renewal failed to deliver on its promise” while also asserting “a vision is needed to transform the Southwest Federal District into a series of vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods.”
Home Rule
On February 6, Republican members of Congress from Tennessee and Utah introduced legislation to repeal the DC Home Rule Act and assert Congressional authority over DC and its 700,000 citizens. The title of the bill, which would eliminate the position of DC Mayor, is an unusually personal jab at a duly elected official, as the acronym for the “Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident” Act is indeed BOWSER.
Holmes Norton pledged to defeat the legislation, as she has with previous attempts to roll back rights in DC. “This response from two Republicans from far away states is, predictably, to try to take away what small measure of democracy the more than 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, have,” she said in a press release.
In the early days of the Trump Administration, the credo of “a troll for a troll” seemed to take hold, as DC shadow Representative Oye Owolewa promptly planned and executed a trip to Utah, home of BOWSER Act sponsor Senator Mike Lee. In Salt Lake City, Owolewa said in a press release he engaged with community leaders to advocate for equitable representation.
“Senator Lee should be focused on the needs of Utahns rather than meddling in the affairs of D.C. residents,” Owolewa said in the release.
Ward 6 Councilmember Allen called the bill “a continuation of the District’s special place as a punching bag to score political points on the national stage.” Allen emphasized the city’s recent success in balancing budgets and reducing violent crime, but told constituents, “until we have full statehood, DC residents’ right to self-govern will remain uniquely vulnerable to the whims of any elected member of the federal government.”
