t very much like Washington DC, right now we’re in the middle of a financial crisis. Legislation passed House Republicans to prevent the city’s 2025 fiscal year budget from being approved. This drastic cut was included in a federal omnibus spending bill. Not least because it came in the nick of time—just hours before government shutdown seemed likely. This surprising maneuver prevents the city from spending any of its own, locally raised tax dollars. This means that Washington DC has to return to its previous 2024 spending levels. The negative impact on the city’s municipal services from this arbitrary cut would be nothing short of catastrophic. local leaders Mayor Muriel Bowser, noting that basic functions such as “schools, public safety and human services” would be tremendously affected.
Unfortunately, the city’s plight has been made worse by increased logrolling from former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans. Just weeks ago, the president signed an executive order to make Washington DC “the safest, most beautiful, and most prosperous capital city in the world.” This executive order strengthens the administration’s crime-fighting priorities and fast-tracks the deportation of undocumented immigrants. It makes it easier for people to get permits to carry concealed weapons. Though the executive order had been long-expected, the budget reduction was a complete surprise as an implementation measure.
Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed grave concerns about the billion-dollar cut, stating that it would force reductions in critical areas of the budget.
“If we had to make a billion-dollar cut right now … we have to go where the money is in our budget to cut that fast. And our top areas of spending are schools, public safety, and the human services.” – Mayor Muriel Bowser
The Senate has moved quickly to fix the budget cut, passing legislation unanimously to restore that funding. The House of Representatives has still not scheduled a vote on this technical fix. Speaker Johnson’s unwillingness to push the issue forward has been roundly criticized from all sides. The proposed fix would allow the Federal Government to enforce much stricter policies than currently allowed in Washington DC. It would prohibit non-citizens from voting in local elections and create spending bans tied to undocumented immigrants.
Mitchell, a resident of the 10th District, condemned the House’s reactionary response to the crisis.
“We’re taught as children, if we make a mistake, we own up to it, and we try to do better and right the wrong that we’ve caused. And what we saw is that the US House had that opportunity and chose not to right the wrong.” – Mitchell
Resident Alex Dodds considered the budget cut as a more symbolic political action than a realistic financial move.
“It’s not even a budget cut. It’s really like a power grab over DC’s budget.” – Alex Dodds
“There’s just no way that people in Congress or this president know what we need better than we do.” – Alex Dodds
Nobody articulated these sentiments more forcefully than Mayor Bowser. She argued strongly that the money at stake is local dollars, and taking them away doesn’t save the federal government a dime.
“These are local dollars. It doesn’t save the federal government any money. We’re halfway through our fiscal year, and cutting now would be reckless.” – Muriel Bowser
The National Fraternal Order of Police have expressed concerns over the public safety funding cut. They caution that not restoring the budget would put public safety largely at risk.
He, too, has called for urgent action from Congress to fix it.
“The House should take up the D.C. funding ‘fix’ that the Senate has passed, and get it done IMMEDIATELY. We need to clean up our once beautiful Capital City, and make it beautiful again.” – Donald Trump