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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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PAUL closes in Western Market
By Ella Mitchell, Staff Writer • April 22, 2024

Congress votes against D.C. budget autonomy

Congress approved a bill that rejects budget autonomy in D.C., The Hill reported Wednesday.

The approved bill repeals the D.C. Budget Autonomy Act, which would have allowed city officials to control how locally raised funds are spent. More than 80 percent of District residents approved of budget autonomy in a 2013 referendum, and a D.C. Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the budget autonomy act in March.

The new bill, supported by Republicans and two Democratic members of the House of Representatives Wednesday, blocks D.C. from being able to spend funds on things like abortion clinics or regulating marijuana without Congressional approval. Republicans like Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, the chairman of the House Oversight subcommittee, argued that the budget autonomy measure violates the 1973 Home Rule Act, which established Congressional oversight for D.C.’s funds.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.’s non-voting representative in Congress, called the legislation “undemocratic” during the House meeting.

“It is profoundly undemocratic for any member of Congress in the 21st century to declare that he has authority over any jurisdiction except his own,” Norton said, according to The Hill.

The president’s advisers will recommend that U.S. President Barack Obama veto the Republican bill, according to a statement from the White House. The president “strongly supports” D.C. budget autonomy, according to the statement.

“Subjecting the District to the lengthy and uncertain congressional appropriations process for its use of local tax collections imposes both operational and financial hardships on the District, burdens not borne by any other local government in the country,” according to the statement.

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