# H.R. 2096 (119th): Protecting Our Nation's Capital Emergency Act of 2025

Protecting Our Nation's Capital Emergency Act of 2025 This bill rescinds certain changes that were made in 2023 to District of Columbia (DC) law governing discipline of Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers. First, the bill reinstates a 90-day statute of limitations (i.e., time limit) for initiating a corrective or adverse action against any MPD officer or civilian employee. The bill also allows officer disciplinary matters to be negotiated as part of a collective bargaining agreement. Next, the bill eliminates the MPD police chief's authority to increase the police trial board's recommended penalty for officer misconduct. Finally, the bill eliminates a requirement that MPD publish a schedule online of disciplinary hearings for which the proposed action is termination, including the date, time, and underlying allegations.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: dc_governance. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: disciplinary_transparency. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: labor_negotiation. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: police_accountability. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: unclear. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 162: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill combines legitimate interests in fair process, labor bargaining, and limits on executive escalation of penalties with concerns that it weakens accountability for police misconduct through a time bar, reduced public disclosure, and reduced penalty authority. It does not directly advance a named moral evil, nor clearly restrain one, so it falls into a mixed prudential area.
Theological note: Scripture grants the civil authority a duty to punish evil and reward good (Romans 13:3-4), and calls for impartial justice (Deuteronomy 1:17). Discipline of public officers therefore bears on whether authority is exercised faithfully and whether the wrongdoing of those who hold the sword is addressed. Limits on time to act, on the discipline available, and on public disclosure touch on accountability, transparency, and fair dealing with workers. These are real but prudential governance questions rather than a direct moral verdict on the bill.

## Recorded votes

Roll 162: On Passage. Yea 235 · Nay 178 · Other 19.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-2096-119/