Biden Revokes Trump-Era “Anarchist” Label For NYC, Seattle & Portland

Former President Donald Trump had signed a memorandum threatening to withhold federal funding from the Democrat-led cities.

Left: President Joe Biden speaks before signing an executive order in the White House in Washington, DC, February 24, 2021. Right: Former Attorney General William Barr and former President Donald Trump step off Air Force One on Sept. 1, 2020—One day before his administration released a memorandum to review funding to "anarchist jurisdictions." | Getty Images
Left: President Joe Biden speaks before signing an executive order in the White House in Washington, DC, February 24, 2021. Right: Former Attorney General William Barr and former President Donald Trump step off Air Force One on Sept. 1, 2020—One day before his administration released a memorandum to review funding to "anarchist jurisdictions." | Getty Images

President Joe Biden has reversed the Trump administration’s designation of New York City, Seattle, WA and Portland, OR as “anarchist jurisdictions,” which threatened the cities’ access to federal funding. 

The White House announced Wednesday that Biden signed an executive order rolling back several Trump-era policies, including a September 2020 memorandum that would have allowed the federal government to “restrict or otherwise disfavor” funding to all three cities. The Democratic-led cities saw frequent anti-racism demonstrations last summer in the wake of George Floyd’s death. 

Since taking office in January, Biden has reversed a series of Trump policies on immigration, the climate crisis, reproductive rights, and more.

The Trump administration last fall ordered the Office of Management and Budget to review federal funding to New York City, Seattle, and Portland, which it said were “permitting anarchy, violence, and destruction.” 

The Department of Justice said it declared the areas “anarchist” based on local and state governments’ failures to “enforce the law,” reduction of funds to police departments, and refusal of federal law enforcement assistance.

“Seattle no longer has to face the insanity of a President who governs by Twitter or political threats,” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a statement on Wednesday. “President Trump’s baseless lawsuits targeted our city for standing up for immigrants, civil rights, and democracy as he further divided our country with hate.”

In October, the three cities filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for “threatening to violate the U.S. Constitution” by potentially withholding billions of dollars in federal funding. The lawsuit alleged the designation was “deadly serious.”

New York City and Seattle rely on federal funding for public transportation and housing, social services, and COVID-19 relief, according to their mayors’ offices.

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said in a statement that he “would relish seeing our disgraced former President lose again in court” but that he would “much prefer seeing President Biden undo his predecessor’s will with a stroke of his pen.”

The Trump administration’s declaration was part of its continued attack on the nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism and efforts to paint cities led by Democratic mayors as poorly run — a depiction that he repeated while touting a “law and order” message on the campaign trail. The DOJ under Trump referred to the protests as “marred by vandalism, chaos, and even killing.”

While some demonstrations led to looting or violence, a study published in September by the U.S. Crisis Monitor found that last summer’s anti-racism protests were largely peaceful. According to the study, in more than 93% of “all demonstrations connected to the movement, demonstrators have not engaged in violence or destructive activity.”