218–206: House Passes DC Safe & Beautification Bill With 5 Democratic Crossovers

The House passed H.R. 5103, the Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Act of 2025, on March 25, 2026, by a 218–206 roll call vote (House Roll Call #101, 119th Congress, 2nd Session). The vote was near-perfectly along party lines: every Republican who cast a ballot voted yes, 206 of 209 voting Democrats voted no, and five Democrats broke ranks to support the bill. The lone Independent, Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), voted yes.

The bill now advances to the Senate, where it will need to clear a 60-vote cloture threshold to avoid a filibuster — the same procedural hurdle that has stalled or killed other House-passed legislation during this session.

What the Bill Actually Does

H.R. 5103 has two distinct sections with very different scope. Understanding both is essential to understanding why five centrist Democrats voted yes while the rest of their caucus uniformly opposed it.

Section 2: The Beautification Program

Section 2 directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop a Beautification Program for the District of Columbia within 30 days of enactment. The program targets:

• Cleanliness and maintenance of federal and DC facilities, monuments, land, public spaces, sidewalks, parks, highways, roads, and transit systems
• Removal of graffiti
• Restoration of damaged or defaced monuments, memorials, statues, and markers
• Encouraging private-sector participation in these efforts

The Secretary must consult with the Attorney General, Secretary of Transportation, Mayor of the District of Columbia, the U.S. Attorney for DC, and the Administrator of General Services. Annual reports to Congress are required. The program has a built-in sunset: it terminates on January 2, 2029.

Section 3: The DC Safe and Beautiful Commission

Section 3 establishes a new executive branch body: the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful Commission. This is where the bill gets more consequential. The Commission is composed of representatives from:

• Department of the Interior
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Homeland Security
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• U.S. Marshals Service
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia
• Executive Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia
• Such other federal entities as designated by the Chair

The Chair is a senior-level official from the Executive Office of the President, designated by the President within 45 days of enactment. The Commission's stated functions include coordinating enforcement of federal and local laws, developing priorities for public safety, and — notably — "developing and encouraging the implementation of policies which will direct the maximum enforcement of Federal immigration law within the District of Columbia."

That immigration enforcement mandate is the core legislative flashpoint. DC has long had city policies limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The Commission would not override DC law, but it would create a formal federal coordination mechanism to push maximum enforcement — a significant shift.

The bill is also connected to a Trump executive order: on March 27, 2025, President Trump signed an EO titled "Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful," which directed a similar task force. H.R. 5103 codifies and expands that concept in statute.

The Vote: By the Numbers

Source: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives — Roll Call 101. Data also available via GovTrack.

The 5 Democrats Who Voted Yes

Every Democratic crossover comes from a district where straddling on public safety and immigration votes carries a different political calculus than it does in safe blue seats.

All five have prior histories of breaking with House Democratic leadership on immigration-adjacent votes, including several of the same members who voted with Republicans on border security measures in the 118th Congress. None represents an urban core district — all five serve suburban, rural, or border-adjacent constituencies.

5 Republicans Who Didn't Vote

Zero Republicans voted against the bill, but five were absent for the vote. Those five are: Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL), Rep. Thomas Kean (R-NJ), Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX). The bill passed by 12 votes; absent Republicans were not decisive here. CVT does not report on reasons for absences beyond the official roll call record.

Kevin Kiley's Vote

Rep. Kevin Kiley (Independent-CA), who switched from Republican to Independent earlier in 2026, cast a YEA vote. Kiley continues to caucus and vote with House Republicans on the vast majority of legislation. CVT's full Kevin Kiley scorecard has more on his voting record since the switch.

What Happens Next in the Senate

H.R. 5103 is now in the Senate, where the Democratic minority retains enough votes to sustain a filibuster. Senate Vote #73 on March 26, 2026 is instructive: Democrats blocked cloture on the Husted Amendment to the SAVE Act 53–47 that same week. Passing a bill with an immigration enforcement mandate for DC will face the same arithmetic — Republicans hold 53 seats, cloture requires 60.

[ANALYSIS] Unless Republican leadership can peel off at least seven Democratic senators, or unless the bill is attached to a must-pass vehicle as an amendment, H.R. 5103 faces long odds in the Senate in its current form. The beautification provisions are broadly popular; the immigration enforcement commission language is where Democratic unity tends to hold.