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The government spending bill passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday that aims to avert a government shutdown would effectively cut Washington, D.C.’s budget by almost $1.1 billion dollars, a move that city leaders warned would be devastating for city services, schools, and more.
“The proposed one billion [dollar] cut to D.C.’s budget is senseless, reckless, and would have devastating consequences for our nation’s capital,” a spokeswoman for Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office said in a statement that was sent to multiple outlets.
The dilemma stems from the fact that Congress has the final word over D.C.’s budget.
The Republican spending bill is a continuing resolution and largely freezes federal spending at levels approved in the prior fiscal year, with $13 billion in cuts to non-military spending. Generally, Congress includes language in the continuing resolution that allows D.C. to spend its locally generated revenue at spending levels it has separately approved, but did not include that provision this time. In 2024, D.C. passed a 2025 budget of $21 billion, funded largely with local tax revenues.
“Republicans opted instead to treat D.C. the same as a federal agency, freezing funds and thus forcing the city to revert to its fiscal year 2024 budget—even as the city has been operating under its larger fiscal year 2025 budget since last October,” explained the local D.C. outlet The 51st.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) released a statement Monday blasting the text of the bill.
“With this bill, House Republicans have intentionally committed nothing short of fiscal sabotage against D.C.,” said Norton. “D.C. has not been treated as a federal agency for funding purposes in more than 20 years precisely because doing so can force dramatic overnight cuts to essential services, including police, sanitation, and schools. Cuts to these services would work against Republicans’ stated goal of improving public safety and order in D.C.”
A memo from D.C. officials explains that reducing local spending by over $1 billion would force a 16% cut to all remaining funds that are not expended. A cut that large would result in layoffs of direct services workers and a reduction or elimination of direct services, per the memo.
The Washington Post reported that it’s hard to predict exactly how the cuts will play out, but budget officials believe the reduction could cause $200 million in cuts to D.C. Public Schools and $166 million in cuts to charter schools.
D.C. Water, which distributes drinking water and provides regional wastewater treatment services, could see $51 million in cuts.
“The federal government saves no money from reducing D.C.’s locally funded expenditures,” according to the memo from the District, which also noted that the cuts could cause D.C.’s bond rating to be downgraded.
“This is all completely pointless,” wrote one observer on X. “There should not be a single vote in Congress in favor of these catastrophic cuts.”
Another D.C. resident shared the Post‘s story and wrote the GOP is “attempting to casually cut the budget of a major city simply because they hate us and they can.”
The spending bill now heads to the Senate. Democrats can try to block the measure, though that carries the risk of being blamed for a government shutdown, which would go into effect if no spending bill is passed by Friday.
“Big vote upcoming for Senate Democrats,” wrote Post reporter Jeff Stein on Wednesday. “The Trump administration is asserting massive new powers to control federal spending unilaterally, and many Dems view the shutdown bill as their only possible point of leverage. We’ll see what they do soon.”
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Great Job Eloise Goldsmith & the Team @ Common Dreams Source link for sharing this story.
