Is Congress About to Conduct a Hostile Takeover of DC?

WASHINGTON, DC — Over the course of American history, Congress has long meddled in D.C. affairs to the consternation of local authorities, but a newly emboldened Republican Congress may take unprecedented action to control the District this year on a local level.

Republicans are sending signals that they could be getting a lot more involved in local laws to bring them in line with Congressional mandates, something that is causing a great deal of concern among D.C. leadership.

Congress absolutely has the constitutional authority to do so: the nation's founding document grants the U.S. Congress exclusive jurisdiction over D.C. in "all cases whatsoever." But in recent years and as the push for statehood has intensified, D.C. leadership has sought to run its own house without interference from Capitol Hill, and for the most part they have been given latitude to do so. However, that may be changing as a Republican-dominated Congress seeks to flex its muscles over the Democrat-dominated city.

D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh lashed out at Congress Tuesday morning, according to Sam Ford of ABC 7, calling them "bullies on the Hill" based on Republican plans against D.C. laws.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is expected on Tuesday to adopt a plan to conduct reviews of actions by D.C. lawmakers, according to a Washington Post report. For example, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the committee, has demanded that the District end physician-assisted suicide. Chaffetz also called on Mayor Muriel Bowser to stop using tax dollars to defend illegal immigrants from deportation in defiance of President Trump.

The last time Congress was heavily involved in the District's operations was in the late 1990s during a fiscal crisis.

The District will be relying on Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has represented D.C. in Congress as a non-voting member since the 1990s, to battle against Congressional micromanagement in local issues, the Post report notes. But with Republicans in total control, it will be an uphill battle for D.C. leadership for at least the next couple years, and perhaps longer.

Bowser had a very pointed message for Congress at the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21: "Leave us alone."

Image via D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser