A House panel has moved forward with legislation that would strip Washington, D.C., of its ability to enforce traffic laws using automated cameras, drawing a sharp rebuke from the District’s congressional delegate and civil liberties advocates who say Congress is once again interfering in local governance.
“Today the Oversight Committee, for the second time this Congress, advanced a paternalistic, undemocratic, and frankly petty bill to overturn two traffic safety laws enacted by D.C.,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C). “The hypocrisy behind this legislation is astounding. The bill’s sponsor represents a district in Pennsylvania, a state that uses automated traffic enforcement extensively to improve roadway safety for its own residents. Yet he has spent years attempting to deny the District the same tool his own constituents benefit from.”
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved H.R. 5525, known as the “Stop DC Capital Authoritarian Motorvehicle Enforcement and Restoration of Autonomy Act,” or the “Stop DC CAMERA Act,” in a 21-19 party-line vote. The measure would eliminate D.C.’s authority to operate automated traffic enforcement systems and would roll back rules including restrictions on right turns on red in parts of the city. The bill now heads to the full House.
Norton, who has long opposed congressional intervention in D.C. affairs, said the legislation ignores the will of District residents and their elected officials.
“D.C.’s elected officials enacted these measures to protect pedestrians, cyclists and drivers in our city,” Norton stated. “If D.C. residents disagree with those decisions, they can vote their local leaders out of office. That is how democracy works. What is undemocratic is members of Congress from distant states repeatedly trying to override local D.C. laws.”
She added that Congress should turn its attention elsewhere.
“Congress should focus on the many pressing challenges facing the nation, not continue this pattern of unnecessary and unjustified interference in the District’s local affairs. I’ll work to stop this bill from advancing further,” Norton declared.
Pennsylvania Congressman Supports Bill, District Pushes Back
Supporters of the bill, led by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), argue that the city’s extensive network of cameras has become a revenue generator rather than a safety tool. D.C. operates 536 automated traffic cameras, and the system generated more than $267 million in fines in the last fiscal year, according to the District’s chief financial officer.
“The residents and commuters of Washington are both sick and tired of being fleeced for hundreds of dollars of petty automated traffic fines— all in the name of alleged safety,” Perry said.
Perry has also pointed to fluctuating traffic fatality numbers to question the effectiveness of the cameras. Data from the Metropolitan Police Department shows road deaths rising from 35 in 2022 to 52 in both 2023 and 2024, before dropping to 25 last year.
“It’s not getting safer out there, folks,” Perry said. “Anyone with common sense can see there is zero correlation between these fatality figures and the hundreds of cameras installed over more than 25 years.”
District officials and advocates counter that automated enforcement remains a key component of traffic safety and local control. The American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.) warned that the bill would not only override local decision-making but also strip significant revenue from the city’s budget.
“It is inefficient, wrong, and nonsensical for Congress – where the people of D.C. have no vote – to stop local elected leaders from implementing local traffic enforcement measures,” said Monica Hopkins, executive director of ACLU-D.C. “Members of Congress should not spend their valuable time micromanaging the people of D.C. who have our own local government. This legislation would also deliver another catastrophic blow to D.C.’s local budget. It is unacceptable to take away approximately $200 million of local funds per year, just months after Congress blocked D.C. from spending over $1 billion of our own local funds last fiscal year.”
The debate has also drawn attention from statehood advocates, who say the measure highlights the limits of D.C.’s autonomy under federal oversight. Members of DC Vote say they plan to travel to Pennsylvania to ask residents in Perry’s district whether D.C. traffic laws rank among their top concerns.
“We thought we would go to Harrisburg and ask just people on the street: What are their 10 most important issues? What are the things that keep them up at night? And we want to see where D.C. traffic laws fall on that range,” said Daniel Solomon of DC Vote. “My guess is it’s not going to make the Top 10 or even the Top 20, but, you know, let’s find out.”