House passes Republican-led bills to repeal D.C. laws on noncitizen voting and policing
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House is poised to pass a trio of bills this week to repeal Washington, D.C., laws on immigration, voting and policing, even as it has yet to restore a painful $1 billion cut to the city’s budget.
The House passed two of the bills Tuesday. One would bar noncitizens from voting in local elections in the nation’s capital, overturning a Washington law that was passed in 2022. It passed 266-148, with 56 Democrats joining Republicans in support.
The other bill would restore collective bargaining rights and a statute of limitations for Washington police officers involved in disciplinary cases. It passed 235-178, with 30 Democrats voting for it and four Republicans voting against it.
Then, on Thursday, the House is expected to pass a third bill, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, which would require the Washington government to comply with requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security to share information and detain undocumented immigrants. Under current Washington law, local authorities do not work with federal immigration officials unless they have judicial warrants.
Altogether, the bills represent House Republicans’ attempt to assert authority over deep-blue Washington at a time when the GOP has unified control of the federal government.
“Home rule” — in which the Washington mayor and city council make their own laws but Congress has the ability to review them — has long been a point of contention. Democrats have pushed in recent years to grant full statehood to Washington, while Republicans have slammed decisions made by local leaders and sought to reverse them.
“D.C.’s City Council made radical decisions in our nation’s capital under the Biden-Harris administration, passing local laws that are woefully inconsistent with national standards or constitutional principles,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee who authored the GOP voting bill, told NBC News in a statement.
“I’m proud that the House is taking action to overturn several of these reckless measures — including my legislation to prohibit noncitizens from voting in local D.C. elections,” he said.
At the same time, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican leaders have been dragging their feet on a legislative fix for Washington’s budget. A government funding bill that Congress passed in March to avert a shutdown included a provision requiring the city to revert to fiscal year 2024 funding levels, leaving it with a $1.1 billion shortfall.
The move was quickly met with opposition from local leaders. The Senate voted by unanimous consent in March to undo it and restore Washington’s authority to use local tax dollars as its leaders see fit. President Donald Trump endorsed the fix, calling on the House to “immediately” pass the bill on social media on March 28.
But months later, Johnson still hasn’t held a vote on the bill, prompting criticism from Democrats and Mayor Muriel Bowser.
“It’s absurd that the House hasn’t taken it up. It’s absolutely irresponsible, unfair and beneath the credibility of leadership,” said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who represents a congressional district just outside Washington. “It’s not our money, it’s D.C.’s money … and I don’t know why the speaker hasn’t put the Senate bill on the floor. It’ll pass overwhelmingly.”
“This is a particular egregious example of substituting their judgment for those who are locally elected to govern the District of Columbia,” Hoyer said.
Last month, Johnson told reporters that he was in communication with Bowser and that the House would take up the funding fix “as quickly as possible.” He said passing Trump’s massive domestic policy package had taken up “all of our energy” and insisted the delay was not for a “political purpose.”
“We’re working on it right now. It’s not like we’ve closed the door to that,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told NBC News on Tuesday. “But obviously there are other problems we’re trying to resolve along the way.”
Bowser’s office denounced the GOP bills to revoke Washington law and — while noting that Washington has mitigated the most “catastrophic” impacts of the budget restrictions — urged Congress to pass the funding fix.
“Mayor Bowser continues to oppose all congressional interference in the lives and affairs of Washingtonians. DC will continue to fight to protect our home rule and self-determination,” a Bowser spokesperson said in an email. “If Congress wants to be helpful, they should pass the District of Columbia Local Funds Act to fix their damage to DC’s FY25 budget.”
Johnson’s office had no comment when it was asked Tuesday when — or whether — he still plans to hold a vote on the funding fix.
Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., who is No. 4 in Republican leadership, said, “I honestly don’t know; I haven’t heard yes or no,” when she was asked whether the funding fix will come up for a vote.
Other congressional Democrats said Republicans should stay out of Washington issues.
“It’s bad enough, usually, when they’re playing in D.C. local, home rule issues,” said Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., whose district abuts Washington. “But then to do it at a time when they haven’t returned the $1.1 billion is especially egregious.”
Immigration has dominated the national political debate this week, with protests erupting in Los Angeles in response to the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. Republicans said the fight over immigration is a winning issue for the party, and they have continued to lean into it with the legislation on the floor this week.
“If D.C. wants illegals to vote, we’ve made it clear at the federal level people here illegally should not vote in any elections,” Scalise said.
“We’re still the most generous nation in the world in terms of our legal immigration system,” he continued, “but we have to fix our broken immigration system. And you could just see what’s going on in L.A. to prove the point.”