Norton Announces Committee Passage of Her Bill Requiring Commanding General of D.C. National Guard to Reside in D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced today that the Committee on Oversight and Reform (COR) yesterday passed her bill that would require the Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard, who is the top official in the D.C National Guard, to live in D.C. The Commanding General is appointed by the president and is a federal official.

"D.C. has no control over its own National Guard," Norton said. "This bill would help ensure the Guard's connection to the residents it serves and in-depth knowledge of the unique issues and challenges faced by D.C. residents."

The president controls the D.C. National Guard, while the governors of the states and territories control their National Guards. Norton's D.C. National Guard Home Rule Act would give the D.C. mayor control over the D.C. National Guard. The D.C. National Guard Home Rule Act passed the House last year as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (NDAA), but the bill was stripped out of the final version of the NDAA.

Last year, COR passed Norton's bill that would require the Director of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for D.C. (CSOSA) and the Director of the Pretrial Services Agency for D.C. (PSA) to live in D.C. CSOSA and PSA are federal agencies that exclusively serve D.C.

###