News: The House Republican leadership doesn’t plan to bring up a bill next week that would stave off deep cuts to the District of Columbia’s budget, according to multiple sources familiar with party strategy.
The Senate passed a measure last week by unanimous consent that would alter the CR to prevent D.C. from having to revert to FY2024 spending. D.C. officials say unless the House passes it and President Donald Trump signs the Senate-passed fix, the District may have to cut anywhere between $250 million to $1 billion from its budget – depending on who you ask.
Funding bills typically include this language by default. But Republicans left the provision out this year. It’s subjective whether this was a way to clamp down on D.C.’s spending or an oversight by the House Republican majority.
As with everything in the House these days, the D.C. budget issue is quite tricky and there is internal politics that Speaker Mike Johnson has to navigate.
House Republicans aren’t going to be eager to help the District, which the GOP has lambasted as poorly run. Several House Republicans have said Congress should repeal the 1973 Home Rule Act, which gave control of the District to locally elected officials.
The Trump administration is supportive of passing the budget fix, but House Republican leadership is unsure that the president himself will weigh in and ask for the chamber to pass the measure.
If Trump isn’t vocal, a massive number of House Republicans would vote no, sources say.
If Johnson wanted to put the measure on the floor under a rule, he would have to get it through the House Rules Committee, which still has hardline conservative Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) as members. Johnson could choose to put the measure on the floor under suspension, which requires a two-thirds majority. The GOP leadership is unsure they can meet that threshold.
There has been some discussion of giving the District some budget flexibility, but not the full measure the Senate passed.
The White House’s thinking here is that Trump is asking a lot of the District – to clean the city up, beef up police presence and crack down on homeless encampments. Thus Mayor Muriel Bowser needs the full budgetary flexibility that the District is owed.
The House GOP leadership plans to talk to its rank and file when it returns next week to plot a course.
