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Republicans push to repeal D.C.'s governing power, but city supporters push for statehood


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WASHINGTON ‒ For more than 50 years, the District of Columbia has had limited power to govern itself.

Its residents don’t have a voting member in Congress and have long lobbied for statehood to gain that representation.

Now, some members of the Republican-led Congress are trying again to take away the district's "home rule" status.

Legislation introduced last week by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee would repeal the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.

The bill entitled, ‘’The Bringing Oversight to Washington and Safety to Every Resident (BOWSER) Act,’’ would take effect a year after passage. It is named after D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Bowser, who is serving her third term, said she had no comment on the bill's name, but has continued to press the case for D.C. statehood.

“The District's focus is on how we become the 51st state. I know there's talk about other places being the 51st state, but we're going to be the 51st state,’’ Bowser told reporters at a youth development event Monday. “And what that means is that we'll be treated just like every other American. So right now, we're not.’’

Lee and Ogles said the repeal is needed because of what they called the city’s failures, including high crime rates, such as car jackings and assaults against members of Congress and staffers. They also point to federal bribery charges against Trayon White, one of the city councilmembers, as evidence of government corruption. The council expelled White earlier this month.

“The corruption, crime, and incompetence of the D.C. government has been an embarrassment to our nation’s capital for decades,” Lee said in a statement. “It is long past time that Congress restored the honor and integrity of George Washington to the beautiful city which bears his name.” 

'Pathway to becoming the 51st state'

Critics are pushing back against the GOP bill.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, a nonvoting delegate who represents the city in Congress, called the GOP measure “anti-democratic rhetoric.”

“We have made significant progress in our historic march toward making D.C. the 51st state, and this is evidence of that progress,’’ she said in a statement Tuesday. “This response from two Republicans from far away states is, predictably, to try to take away what small measure of democracy the more than 700,000 D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, have.”

Holmes Norton has repeatedly introduced bills to make Washington, D.C. a state. The House passed her measure in 2020 and 2021, but it stalled in the Senate.

Washington is governed by a council and a mayor, but Congress has oversight. Under the Home Rule Act passed in 1973, Congress can review bills passed by the council before they become law, according to the D.C. government. Congress also has control over the city’s budget.

With nearly 700,000 people, Bowser said D.C. is more populous than two states and its residents pay higher taxes than many others, but it doesn’t have voting representation in Congress.

Home rule is limited, said Bowser, “but what we should be focused on is our pathway to becoming the 51st state."

Residents and civil rights groups have long lobbied for the nation’s capital to become a state. Some critics have argued that effort has been resisted in part because the city has a significant Black population.

For years, a majority of the city’s population was Black. In 2023, nearly 47% of the population was white and nearly 45% was Black, according to the U.S. Census.

Greg Carr, an associate professor of Africana Studies at Howard University, called the Republican bill part of an effort to “lord over the District of Columbia and control the mayor."

Bowser and Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have bumped heads in the past. During Trump’s first presidency, Bowser had the words "Black Lives Matter" painted in yellow on the pavement a block from the White House.

Trump is back in office and Republicans now control both chambers in Congress.

This is theater, but it’s theater that could stand a chance of passing," Carr said.

Bowser has to worry about how to protect D.C. residents, particularly the most vulnerable, and "figure out how to navigate this storm in a way that will keep those people out of harm's way," Carr said.

Holmes Norton said she will continue to push back against the current GOP bill and any other like it.

“I will defeat these efforts, which will only strengthen our case for statehood,” she said.