DC Vote opposes unprecedented attempts in Congress to roll DC Home Rule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 11, 2025

PRESS CONTACT:
Ilir Zherka 
202-262-4687 
[email protected]  

Washington, DC. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform marked up 16 DC-related measures on September 10. The below statement from Ilir Zherka, Interim Executive Director, may be quoted in whole or in part.

The Oversight Committee’s passage of 16 anti-DC measures represents the most aggressive effort in 30 years to roll back home rule. DC Vote and our allies call on Congress to reject that effort.

These measures are not being advanced to help DC residents increase public safety. If that were the goal, Congress would help fill court vacancies, urge that more career prosecutors are hired, and restore funding for public safety.

The Committee’s effort to take control of the DC attorney general’s office is particularly egregious. The attorney general, who is elected by the people, is currently defending DC residents’ constitutional rights in two lawsuits against the President. By passing this measure, the Committee is seeking to stop those lawsuits and prevent DC residents from defending their rights.

Taken together, these measures are designed to increase federal power over Washington, DC so that members of Congress who do not live here can impose their views over the will of the people. This approach is fundamentally anti-democratic.

DC is a test case for Congress. Congress can and must take a stand against these anti-DC measures. If we can prevent the erosion of democracy in the nation’s capital, then we can succeed in other parts of the country, as well.