Republican hard-liners say a bill to restore the District of Columbia local budget and forestall planned layoffs doesn’t have votes to pass the House without conservative policy add-ons, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Those could include a provision blocking noncitizens from voting in D.C., which is one option the hard-liners have raised with senior Republicans in recent weeks. The three people were granted anonymity to describe the private talks.
District officials say they’re facing a $1 billion funding shortfall after House Republicans inadvertently reverted city spending to prior-year spending levels in the latest government funding bill. A fix passed the Senate unanimously but despite support from President Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson has yet to move it forward in the House.
D.C. allows noncitizens to vote in local elections under a 2022 law that first took effect last year. The House voted last year to overturn the law.
GOP Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said in a WTOP radio interview Tuesday that he and other conservatives oppose the Senate-passed measure and are seeking to “put some guardrails on the spending” done by D.C.’s local government.
“The bill is not ready for prime time in the House,” he said. D.C. largely governs itself under a 51-year-old home rule arrangement, though Congress retains ultimate constitutional power over the capital city.
Harris did not mention the noncitizen voting law but cited city policies surrounding reparations for slavery and abortion funding as reasons for congressional intervention, as well as the Washington Commanders stadium deal announced this week, saying “there are some people who question whether those are responsible uses of money.”
