Democrats fear Bowser’s budget tactics invite GOP intervention in DC

Democrats in Washington, D.C., are reportedly worried over Mayor Muriel Bowser‘s decision not to sign the council-passed city budget.

Bowser took issue with the city council’s final budget, which she argued, in a letter to council Chairman Phil Mendelson, would be “setting the stage for additional tax hikes for our residents and businesses next year,” and is an “unsustainable” approach, according to WJLA. Mendleson responded to Bowser’s decision by questioning if she wanted Congress to get involved in local affairs.

“The final budget has fostered very little criticism from the community at-large,” Mendleson said in a statement, per the outlet. “Only the Mayor seems to still be upset. By her critical letter, is the Mayor asking, once again, that Congress take note and intervene in our local affairs?”

For decades, Congress has largely avoided governing the District of Columbia, deferring to the mayor and city council, but House Republicans took a renewed interest in the capital city’s affairs in 2023 with rising crime in Washington.

The successful effort by Congress, led by House Republicans, to strike down a rewritten criminal code for the city last year proved to be a turning point in the federal government’s intervention with the district, marking the first such action in decades.

The Republican Party’s 2024 platform explicitly calls for reasserting “greater Federal Control over Washington, DC to restore Law and Order in our Capital City, and ensure Federal Buildings and Monuments are well-maintained.”

The Democratic-controlled city has taken note and is preparing for the possibility of Republicans taking control of the House, Senate, and White House in November and reasserting control over the district, according to NBC Washington. One of the concerns is reportedly that if former President Donald Trump returns to office he could reinstate the Control Board, like what was in place from 1995 until 2001.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) also told the outlet that she is concerned with the potential for a second Trump White House to engage in governing the district and take control away from local officials while also changing locally passed laws.

“Well, I’m very concerned that he would take over the District of Columbia,” Norton told the outlet. “My level of concern could not be deeper. You know, presidents usually don’t pay that much attention to the city, and it looks like he would be laser-focused on the District of Columbia.”