The Republican-led House and the speaker drama could mean new efforts by lawmakers to get involved in D.C. affairs.
One of the concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly made to far-right GOP conservatives was to allow unlimited amendments on the House floor.
News4's Pat Lawson Muse spoke with Axios reporter Cuneyt Dil about how much of a threat this new House is to D.C.
“Now, Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s delegate and other leaders in D.C., are concerned about that, because that could mean more far right, more fringe ideas, like repealing home rule, like rolling-back abortion access in D.C., those kinds of amendments could be more easily added to big budget spending bills and once they are in those big bills, it is harder to get them out,” Dil said.
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Norton also told Axios that D.C. may end up having to depend on the Democratic-led Senate and the President to bargain for the city.
On Monday evening, Norton spoke on the House floor to debate new rules that remove the floor privileges of D.C.'s mayor. In a press release, Norton shared her remarks from the floor:
“The rules continue to grant the governors of states and 16 other categories of people, including foreign ministers, floor privileges. Not only does the D.C. mayor operate in the same way as a state governor, including managing a jurisdiction that has both a budget and population that are larger than those of several states, but Congress has undemocratic plenary authority over D.C. and regularly uses this authority to legislate on local D.C. matters.”
