Eli Crane Torches DC Council Chair Mendelson: You Voted to Cut Police Funding — Then Called Them to Your Own Home

Rep. Eli Crane confronted D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson in a congressional hearing over his 2020 vote to slash the police budget — then cited a police-union account alleging Mendelson later called police to his own home when protesters showed up. Mendelson admitted the vote.

In a congressional hearing, Rep. Eli Crane put D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson on the spot over his 2020 vote supporting a $15 million reduction in the city's police budget. Mendelson acknowledged it.

Then came the gut punch: Crane cited a police-union account alleging that Mendelson later called police to his own home when protesters gathered there — with the union blaming a delayed response on the very staffing shortages his vote helped create.

Crane's closing: "this nonsense must end immediately."

Same policy for the city, different rules for himself — at least, that's the allegation Crane put on the record.