President Donald Trump called for the House of Representatives to pass a bill that would reinstall over $1 billion to the D.C. budget.

Earlier this month, the Senate voted to pass the “District of Columbia Local Funds Act of 2025” that reversed a provision to the federal spending package that would have required $1.1 billion in cuts to D.C.’s budget.

In a post on Truth Social on Friday, President Trump underpinned his recent executive order to clean up the District, adding, “We need to clean up our once beautiful Capital City, and make it beautiful again.”

Despite the support for the budget fix, Trump added that the new federal task force will be tougher on crime and he plans to work with Mayor Muriel Bowser — or take matters into his own hands.

It’s the first direct public indication from the president that he supports efforts to restore a $1.1 billion hole in the District’s budget, and it’s a major boost for Bowser’s campaign to reverse a legislative change that she said would devastate the capital city.

Local leaders previously voiced their concern, saying the majority of the cuts would be made to law enforcement and emergency personnel, public education and critical human services including social safety net services.

Bowser spearheaded the intense congressional lobbying campaign to prevent the change, saying it would result in immediate, across-the-board cuts to staffing and programs.

The measure now awaits House approval, and Bowser has delayed unveiling her 2026 budget plan until the issue is resolved.

In a post on X , Bowser said she’s pleased the president supports the passage of the bill.

“And with this fix, I look forward to sending a balanced and certified budget to the Council focused on our schools, a clean and safe DC, and a robust growth agenda,” she added.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton hailed Trump’s support for the budget fix and tied the issue into Washington’s long-standing and increasingly beleaguered campaign to become the 51st state.

“As surprised as I am to have an occasion to agree with President Trump, in this instance, we agree that D.C. should be able to spend its own local funds at its own locally enacted levels,” Norton said in a statement. “This ordeal, however, only helps to highlight the need for D.C. statehood so that D.C. can finally govern itself to the same extent afforded to the states, including making decisions about how to use its own local funds.”

Making D.C. ‘safe and beautiful’ again

On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order establishing the interdepartmental “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force” that will be made up of federal agencies and aims to make D.C. “what it should be — the pride of every American to whom it belongs.” It’s been ordered to take on addressing crime, enforcing immigration policies, speeding up applications for concealed weapons and removing homeless encampments and graffiti from federal property.

“America’s capital must be a place in which residents, commuters, and tourists feel safe at all hours, including on public transit. Its highways, boulevards, and parks should be clean, well-kept, and pleasant,” the order stated. “Its monuments, museums, and buildings should reflect and inspire awe and appreciation for our Nation’s strength, greatness, and heritage.”

U.S. Shadow Senator for D.C. Ankit Jain told WTOP that the president’s vocal support for the budget fix bill would allow the city to “use our own local tax dollars to fund the (Metropolitan Police Department).”

“There’s something about getting additional funding to our forensics lab to make sure it can get accredited, which I think is a good thing. But all of that is locally controlled, so I think it’s a little bit ‘to be seen’ exactly what they’re going to do,” Jain said of Trump’s executive order.

WTOP has reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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