What it does
SourcedDC Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act or the DC CRIMES Act
This bill limits the authority of the District of Columbia (DC) government over its criminal sentencing laws.
The bill eliminates the DC government’s authority to enact any act, resolution, or rule to change any criminal liability sentence in effect on the date of the bill's enactment.
The bill also (1) reduces the maximum age of a youth offender from 24 years to 18 years, and (2) repeals a provision that allows a DC criminal court to issue a sentence to a youth offender that is less than the mandatory minimum term otherwise required by law. A DC criminal court currently has the discretion to reduce or modify certain criminal sentences for a youth offender under specified circumstances. For example, a DC court may sentence a youth offender to probation in lieu of confinement. (However, this discretion does not apply to several specified violent crimes.)
Additionally, the bill directs the Office of the Attorney General for DC to publish, and update monthly, certain youth offender crime data on a publicly accessible website.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Aug 8, 2025).
Our plain-language breakdown, with what it means for you and the case for and against, is written once a bill starts to move.
What has happened
Sourced- Sep 16, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 240 - 179 (Roll no. 270). (text: CR H4333) Roll call recordLibrary of Congress
- Aug 8, 2025Introduced in HouseLibrary of Congress
Recorded votes
Sourced- Sep 16, 2025 · HousePassed 240–179On Passage · needed a majority
Cosponsors
- Tim Burchett R-TN-2
- Andrew S. Clyde R-GA-9
- Randy Fine R-FL-6
- Brandon Gill R-TX-26
- Clay Higgins R-LA-3
- Anna Paulina Luna R-FL-13
- Daniel Webster R-FL-11
- Joe Wilson R-SC-2