The record

LegislationLegislation· Sep 2025
HR 5143 Passed House — in Senate

Sponsored by Clay Higgins (R)

District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025

Repeals restrictions on police car chases in Washington, DC, requiring pursuits unless futile or too dangerous.

Tradeoff

Allows DC police to chase fleeing suspects more broadly, reversing 2022 limits that required officers to exhaust other options first. Requires the Justice Department to study public-alert technology for active pursuits.

What's in it

See official bill text

Increases federal costs by less than $500,000 over the 2025-2030 period.

The $500,000 is the federal cost to produce a report to Congress; the bill's real policy impact is permitting D.C. police to conduct vehicular pursuits of fleeing suspects, which affects D.C. public safety operations and residents but carries minimal federal budget cost.

H.R. 5143, District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025 · Sep 2025

The House passed this 245-182 on September 17, 2025 — sitting in the Senate.

  1. House

    Introduced

    (Sep 4, 2025)

  2. House

    Committee on Oversight and Government Reform(Sep 4, 2025)

  3. House

    The committee voted to send it to the floor

    Reported 25 - 20(Sep 10, 2025)

  4. House

    Passage of the bill

    Passed(Roll #275 · Sep 17, 2025)

    245 yeanay 182

  5. Senate

    Received from the House

    Received(Sep 18, 2025)

Passage votes so far· Sep 17, 2025· 119th Congress · 2025–2027