Norton to Testify on Amendment to Keep D.C. Government Open at Rules Committee Markup of CR, Today

WASHINGTON, DC – Convinced that the government could shut down on October 1, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will take the first of several steps to keep the District of Columbia government open when she testifies today at the Rules Committee markup of the fiscal year 2014 short-term continuing resolution (CR), on her amendment to authorize the D.C. government to spend its local funds for all of fiscal year 2014, which begins on October 1, and not just until the expiration of the CR (December 15, 2013). Otherwise, the city would face another shutdown threat when the CR expires in December. Norton also has a pending bill, the District of Columbia Government Shutdown Avoidance Act of 2013, that would keep shutdown threats from reoccurring by permanently authorizing the District government, beginning in fiscal year 2014, to spend its local funds in the event of a federal government shutdown. The D.C. government passed its own balanced budget and submitted it to Congress on time, and it has been passed by both the House and Senate appropriations committees. Chances of a shutdown on October 1 increased significantly today when House Republicans decided to include a provision defunding Obamacare in the CR, after being unable to get their caucus to support a clean CR.

"The Republican CR containing Obamacare may have a point to make, but shutting down the D.C. government is pointlessly destructive to the nation's capital," said Norton. "No member has ever indicated he or she wanted D.C. to shut down, many members are unaware that our local budget even comes to Congress, and most members do not know that the city government would be caught up in a federal shutdown. With the multiple steps we are taking, our goal is to convince the Congress that D.C. does not even rise to the rank of a hostage in this struggle between the administration and the Republican Congress. The city is irrelevant to any solution that might be needed. Since none of the parties has anything to gain, the least the city is entitled to is being allowed to remain open for all of the 2014 fiscal year."

The Congresswoman made an urgent plea in the Democratic Caucus meeting today for, as she said, "all the help I can get" to keep the District government open after the President's Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors addressed the Caucus and made it clear that the president is not going to negotiate on keeping the federal government open at the expense of the Affordable Care Act, a law that has been passed by Congress and sanctioned by the Supreme Court, or on whether the government should pay its debts (the debt limit). Norton, at the meeting, asked Nabors whether there were any conversations occurring at all between the White House and House Republicans and he said there were none. After hearing Nabors and becoming aware of the CR summited to the Rules Committee, Norton is reinforced in her view that a small number of Republicans are succeeding in holding their caucus hostage, making a shutdown of the federal and D.C. governments more likely than not.

Nevertheless, Norton remains hopeful in her efforts to keep the District government open. Working with then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Norton was successful in getting legislation that kept the D.C. government open when the federal government shutdown in the winter of 1995-1996.

Norton said that the congressional leaders who are aware of a possible D.C. government shutdown oppose it. In July, both the Republican-led Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Democratic-led Senate Appropriations Committee approved larger bills that contained a provision that would permanently authorize the D.C. government to spend its local funds during a federal government shutdown. The President's fiscal year 2013 budget also contained the shutdown-avoidance provision. In addition, the report accompanying the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee-passed fiscal year 2013 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill also acknowledged the harm of District government shutdowns.

Published: September 19, 2013