President Donald Trump said Tuesday that federal prosecutors will pursue the death penalty for anyone convicted of murder in Washington, D.C., telling a televised Cabinet meeting, “If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty.” The announcement is the most sweeping expansion yet of the administration’s anti-crime agenda in the nation’s capital. Capital punishment was nullified in the District by the Supreme Court in 1972 and formally abolished by the D.C. Council in 1981; residents rejected reinstatement in a 1992 referendum. Because most murder cases are handled in local courts, Trump’s plan would require routing prosecutions through federal law or changing existing statutes, a step legal experts say is likely to face significant political and constitutional challenges. The move comes after the president deployed more than 2,000 National Guard troops and placed the city’s police department under temporary federal oversight earlier this month, actions he says are needed to curb what he calls out-of-control crime. Twenty-seven states, the military and the federal government still permit executions, but no federal executions have occurred since January 2021. Trump hinted he could seek comparable measures in other Democrat-run cities such as Chicago, New York and Baltimore.