A trio of House Republicans have proposed a solution to helping D.C. reduce crime: repealing the D.C. Home Rule Act — and letting Congress figure it out.

Led by freshman Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.), the Republicans introduced legislation Friday to repeal the 1973 law that gave D.C. its elected mayor and city council, marking the most extreme escalation of Republicans’ interest in controlling D.C. down to the city’s traffic laws. The drastic proposal would be highly unlikely to succeed in the politically split Congress but is evidence of the appetite Republicans have shown this year to intervene in District affairs — in this case, by seeking to abolish its elected local government.

None of the three Republicans, including co-sponsors Byron Donalds (Fla.) and Matthew M. Rosendale (Mont.), responded to requests for comment.

In a statement to the Washington Examiner on Friday, Ogles cited rising crime in D.C. as the impetus for the legislation as the District is on track to have its deadliest year in two decades. But Ogles has not offered any details about what he is envisioning Congress would do about that, nor does his legislation indicate what type of governmental system it would set up to administer the local affairs of a city of roughly 700,000 people.

“The Nation’s capital has been overrun with violent crime, drugs, theft, homelessness, and riots,” Ogles, the former mayor of Maury County, Tenn., said in a statement. “The Constitution places the authority and responsibility of DC administration with the Congress — not with a DC Mayor or a DC City Council. Congress needs to reclaim its Constitutional authority and make our Nation’s capital safe again, which is why I’m introducing the Seat of Government Act to repeal the DC Home Rule Act.”

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said the bill reflected Republicans’ “antipathy toward the District,” adding he could not imagine Congress administering local affairs in a city that now has a nearly $20 billion budget and dozens of agencies requiring oversight. He contended Congress never had the attention for those responsibilities — let alone now, after the city has grown exponentially.

“My first reaction is this: The gentleman hasn’t a clue how to run the District of Columbia,” he said. “And the notion that Congress is ready to go back 50 years, when it wasn’t running the city well then, is fantasy.”

Republicans made similar threats to try to repeal D.C.’s home rule in the 1990s, when homicides exceeded 400 in some years and the District was on the brink of bankruptcy. Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) renewed the threat last year.