Norton Files Pro-D.C. Amendments to National Defense Authorization Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) filed several D.C.-related amendments to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) at the Rules Committee, including amendments to:

• Give the Mayor of the District of Columbia the same authority over the D.C. National Guard that the governors of states and territories have over their National Guards.
• Repeal the president’s authority to federalize D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
• Require the armed forces, including the National Guard, deployed in D.C. to follow the same body camera requirements that MPD does.
• Require the Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard to reside in D.C.
• Give the District of Columbia the same number of appointments and nominations to the U.S. service academies as states.
• Prohibit the Department of Defense (DoD) from recouping pay from federal civilian or District of Columbia employees who took encampment leave when mobilized by the D.C. National Guard.

“During these current unprecedented, unwarranted, and unlawful attacks on D.C. home rule, the importance of these amendments can’t be overstated,” Norton said. “These amendments would increase equality for D.C. in relation to the states and would be important steps to increasing home rule for D.C. "

Norton also filed amendments to allow members of the Foreign Service to use Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) when an agency is undergoing a reduction in force or other restructuring. While most other federal employees are eligible for VERA if their agencies are undergoing a RIF or other restructuring, the members of the Foreign Service are not. She also filed an amendment to require the United States to dismantle its nuclear weapons and redirect resources that are being used for nuclear weapons programs to be used for addressing the climate crisis and human and infrastructure needs, such as housing, health care and restoring the environment.

“I strongly oppose the Trump administration’s efforts to file federal employees and to dismantle the federal government, and I will continue to fight those efforts using every tool at my disposal,” Norton said. “However, it is important to mitigate the harm where we can, which my Foreign Service VERA amendment would do.

“As the only nation that has used nuclear weapons in war, and that still possesses one of the largest nuclear weapons arsenals, my nuclear weapons amendment would help the United States reestablish its moral leadership in the world by redirecting resources from nuclear weapons to solving human needs and addressing the climate crisis.”

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