Donald Trump landed in Washington Wednesday to celebrate Republicans’ soon-to-be control over the White House and Congress, and visit lame-duck President Joe Biden in person.

Trump‘s arrival on Capitol Hill comes as Republicans are choosing their leadership in both chambers ahead of January, when their reign of power begins.

In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson was a shoo-in to win re-election to the top role with Trump’s blessing—even though a few outstanding House races have not yet been officially called. Still, Republicans were all but assured of retaining a slim majority.

But in the Senate, Trump‘s visit was a muscle-flexing show of power as he wants a majority leader who will be sure to follow his lead and fully back his agenda.

Trump’s policy initiatives include what he promised on the campaign trail would be the biggest deportation in U.S. history; massive tax cuts, tariffs and slashing the federal workforce and government spending—which may explain why he brought his wingman, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, with him to Washington.

Trump announced on Tuesday that Musk, along with one-time GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, will head the new “Department of Government Efficiency”—whose acronym, DOGE, is a nod to the dog-themed cryptocurrency, which spiked yesterday after Trump’s announcement.

Vice President-elect JD Vance was at the Senate to cast his secret ballot for the next majority leader who will replace the longest serving Senate leader in history: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Trump addressed House Republicans, gloating over his stunning election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

“We won every way, all seven swing states—by a lot,“ Trump said. ”Michigan was great. Couldn’t be better, I tell you.”

Trump, who, by law, can only serve one more non-consecutive term, joked that perhaps Republicans would like to reconsider those constitutional restrictions.

Trump was also looming over the Senate majority leader three-way race. Musk and other Trump allies are backing Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who has close ties to the president-elect’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Scott is an insurgent candidate facing Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas.

Trump is also visiting the White House, his first since Jan. 2021 following his election loss to Biden.

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This story is part of WTOP’s ongoing series, Trump Impact, which looks at how the new administration could change the D.C. region.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Tuesday congratulated President-elect Donald Trump on his victory while signaling there could be tension on the horizon between Republican leadership in the federal government and D.C.’s local government, which is controlled by Democrats.

“The District has home rule, and the Congress could change it,” Bowser said during a news conference, referring to the Home Rule Act of 1973, which created the city’s local government.

While Bowser said she did not expect radical changes to home rule, she said the city has been planning for months, deciding what it should do if “the District has to defend itself.”

“We’re not in a new place, we’ve been in this place before, and what we have done is … we’ve defended ourselves,” Bowser said. “That would be our approach in any further occurrence.”

There has been an ongoing feud between federal and local lawmakers over self-government in the nation’s capital.

Last year, the House and Senate passed a bill to overturn changes to the city’s criminal code that had been approved by the D.C. Council. President Joe Biden signed the measure, reflecting a shift in the long-held Democratic position that the federal government should let D.C. govern itself.

The criminal code rewrite was the first D.C. law to be completely overturned in such a way since 1991.

However, because D.C. is not a state, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability essentially vets all new District laws and frequently alters or limits them through “budget riders.”

With Republicans likely in full control of Congress, they’ve signaled that they may try to make numerous changes, such as prohibiting the District’s government from using automated traffic enforcement cameras, requiring residents show photo ID in order to vote or repealing a law that allows noncitizens to vote in local elections.

There has even been talk about trying to federalize the D.C. police department.

“I’ve worked with three presidents — including President-elect Trump — and congressional leaders of both parties to advance the priorities of the District,” Bowser said. “Washington, D.C. is prepared to welcome the new administration, and we are committed to ensuring a smooth and collaborative transition.”

Bowser said she finds common ground with Republicans in some areas, such as wanting federal employees to return to their offices in-person and wanting to find new uses for underutilized government buildings.

“We’ve been in the planning process for the inauguration since the midsummer,” said D.C. police Chief Pamela Smith, who added that authorities were already monitoring planned demonstrations around Trump’s inauguration which is set for Jan. 20. “Currently, we’re tracking four major events with respect to First Amendment activity.”

She said law enforcement agencies from around the country have agreed to provide resources, including an extra 4,000 officers to help with security for the event.

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WASHINGTON – Ahead of the January inauguration, D.C. leaders say they are committed to the peaceful transfer of power and the security measures they have been tasked to handle.

At a briefing Tuesday, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said her team and other partners have been planning for the January 20 inauguration since mid-summer. 

Agencies across the country have been intentional about supporting D.C. law enforcement, Chief Smith said.

“We hope we can get to 4,000 police officers to assist us in this process. We are close to that number. We do have other agencies who are continuing to reach out to us. As they reach out, we will accept their request to provide mutual aid support for the District of Columbia during the inauguration process,” Smith said Tuesday.

Along with the January 20 inauguration, the 2025 Counting and Certification of Electoral Votes has been set for January 6.

“Certainly, working with the D.C. government agencies [including] fire and EMS, OUC, which are the parameters and nerve center here for the District of Columbia, we continue to prepare with our internal agencies on a regular basis,” Smith said. “With our federal partners, we have been meeting on a bi-weekly basis. Sometimes, a weekly basis to determine what intelligence information that may arise, not just in D.C. but across the U.S.”

Smith added Tuesday, that the department is also tracking other potentially large-scale events.

“Currently, we’re tracking I think four major…if you want to call it…major events as it relates to First Amendment activity. As you know, this is nothing new to the MPD. We handle large protests and demonstrations, not just coming on the heels of a January 6th certification of the elections and inauguration, but we do this year-round,” she said. “We signed up for this job. We understand the risks are and what’s associated with this, and as with any protests and demonstrations, we will be prepared to address what comes with that.”

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take the oath of office, there are questions surrounding what a second Trump term could look like for the district. D.C. Mayor Muriel said her office has requested a meeting with the president-elect.

“We have been discussing and planning for many months in the case that the District has to defend itself and its values on all regards. In terms of what we should know is that we’re still a country of laws and the district has home rule and the congress could change it, they could. It is possible. That is probably, as you mentioned, not a likely occurrence,” Mayor Bowser said. “What I think is important for all DC residents to recognize, we’re not in a new place. We’ve been in this place before. What we have done, is we have followed the law and we defended ourselves and that would be our approach in any further occurrence.”

‘Home rule’  refers to the law signed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon, which created a local government for Washington, D.C. It granted DC residents the ability to elect a mayor and council, but Congress retained the power to overrule local legislation and D.C. residents remained without a vote in Congress. 

Trump has also been vocal on the intention to overhaul federal departments and agencies by firing “corrupt actors in [the] National Security and Intelligence apparatus” and moving as many as 100,000 government positions out of D.C.

Bowser said some of those are not in D.C. proper and would welcome a meeting on the federal workforce.

“There is a lot that our region offers to attract and retain and have a productive federal workforce, so we’re going to make our pitch,” she said Tuesday.

On inauguration safety, a spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service released the following statement to FOX 5 on Tuesday:

“We continue to work closely with our law enforcement and public safety partners as we plan for the 2025 Counting and Certification of Electoral Votes on Jan. 6, and the 2025 Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 20, both of which have been designated National Special Security Events. More details, including the security perimeter and road closures, will be released a few weeks prior to each event.”