Politics & Government

Shutdown Avoided, but Riders Impact District's Autonomy

Congress passed a last minute deal to avoid a total government shutdown and thereby a D.C. government shutdown.

The deal passed through Congress in the overnight hours prevented a federal and D.C. government shutdown. However, the bill contains two riders that directly impact the District: one is a school voucher program and the other prohibits D.C. from using federal or local funds to pay for abortions.

"If these reports are correct, then the District of Columbia’s right to govern itself has, once again, been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency," wrote D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray in a statement released Saturday morning. 

Gray wrote that the Congress's efforts to impose values on the local government of D.C. "ludicrous."

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Gray again called for autonomy for D.C residents. "The United States Congress ought to do what is morally right and grant the residents of the District of Columbia -- who pay more than $5 billion in taxes annually -- the right of full citizenship and budget autonomy" wrote Gray.


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