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- May 11, 2013
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(The Guardian) The relationship between the nation’s capital and the nation’s capitol is complicated, to put it mildly. This week, those tensions will take center stage on Capitol Hill, where House Republicans are moving ahead with a pair of resolutions that would override two bills passed by the DC Council.
One involves an overhaul of the city’s criminal code and the other would allow non-citizens to vote in local elections starting in 2024.
It has been decades since Congress last voted to overturn a DC law and the effort is unlikely to succeed this time. Doing so requires approval by both chambers of Congress and the president’s signature. But the clock is ticking: local DC laws are subject to a 30-day Congressional review period before they can be enacted.
Even if the House passes the resolutions, the Senate is not expected to take them up in time.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC’s nonvoting Delegate to Congress, has urged lawmakers to oppose the disapproval resolutions, which she called “profoundly undemocratic and paternalistic”.
“The nearly 700,000 DC residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are worthy and capable of self-government,” she wrote in a letter to members of Congress, according to the Washington Post. “Congress, which is not accountable to DC residents, should not interfere with legislation duly enacted by the duly elected DC government.”
Separately, House Republicans have found themselves in an unlikely alliance with local DC officials, including the city’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser, as part of their push to get federal workers to return to in-person work.
Federal workers represent a substantial part of the city’s workforce, and their absence has had a devastating impact on the city’s economy.
House Republicans recently introduced the Show Up Act, which would compel federal agencies to enforce pre-pandemic tele-work policies. While Bowser has not endorsed the measure, she has urged Biden to do more to encourage federal employees to return to work, or to let DC use the still-empty buildings for housing or other purposes.
One involves an overhaul of the city’s criminal code and the other would allow non-citizens to vote in local elections starting in 2024.
It has been decades since Congress last voted to overturn a DC law and the effort is unlikely to succeed this time. Doing so requires approval by both chambers of Congress and the president’s signature. But the clock is ticking: local DC laws are subject to a 30-day Congressional review period before they can be enacted.
Even if the House passes the resolutions, the Senate is not expected to take them up in time.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC’s nonvoting Delegate to Congress, has urged lawmakers to oppose the disapproval resolutions, which she called “profoundly undemocratic and paternalistic”.
“The nearly 700,000 DC residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are worthy and capable of self-government,” she wrote in a letter to members of Congress, according to the Washington Post. “Congress, which is not accountable to DC residents, should not interfere with legislation duly enacted by the duly elected DC government.”
Separately, House Republicans have found themselves in an unlikely alliance with local DC officials, including the city’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser, as part of their push to get federal workers to return to in-person work.
Federal workers represent a substantial part of the city’s workforce, and their absence has had a devastating impact on the city’s economy.
House Republicans recently introduced the Show Up Act, which would compel federal agencies to enforce pre-pandemic tele-work policies. While Bowser has not endorsed the measure, she has urged Biden to do more to encourage federal employees to return to work, or to let DC use the still-empty buildings for housing or other purposes.
