Press Releases
September 17, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the House passed the second set of two anti-D.C. home rule bills it voted on this week to change D.C. laws today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) vowed to fight their advancement in the Senate.
September 17, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the House passed two anti-D.C. home rule bills to change D.C.’s criminal laws today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said the cycle of disingenuous partisanship, in which Republicans in Congress claim to be concerned about D.C. while decreasing D.C.’s ability to make its own decisions, must end. The first bill, the D.C. CRIMES Act, was introduced by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and would amend D.C.’s Youth Rehabilitation Amendment Act, changing the age at which a court is allowed discretion to impose alternative sentences on a person, other than for certain offenses, and to seal the individual’s records, from 24 to 18. The second bill, introduced by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), would lower the age minors can be tried as adults in D.C. to 14 years old.
September 17, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released the following statement after the text of the House Republican's proposed continuing resolution (CR) included language allowing D.C. to spend under its current (fiscal year 2026) local budget for the duration of the CR. The text of the CR was released yesterday.
September 17, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released her remarks, as prepared for delivery, in advance of speaking on the House floor later today against the D.C. Judicial Nominations Reform Act, introduced by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), which would eliminate the already limited role D.C. has in the selection of its local judges, and the D.C. Policing Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), which would significantly weaken D.C.’s limitations on vehicular pursuits by police officers.
September 16, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released her remarks, as prepared for delivery, in advance of speaking on the House floor this afternoon against the D.C. CRIMES Act, introduced by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), and a bill introduced by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) to lower the age minors can be tried as adults in D.C. to 14 years old. Debate will begin at 2:15 p.m. ahead of votes at 4:30 p.m., and the general public can view the proceedings on C-SPAN or live.house.gov.
September 15, 2025
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced she will speak during debate on the House floor against all four anti-D.C. home rule bills the House is expected to vote on this week. The general public can view the debates and votes on C-SPAN or live.house.gov.
September 11, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released a statement on committee passage of her bill to allow the chair of the D.C. Council to transmit legislation to Congress in the form of the chair’s choosing, including in electronic form, and 13 bills introduced by Republican members of Congress targeting D.C. laws and policies.
September 10, 2025
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released her remarks in advance of today’s House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform markup of her bill to allow the chair of the D.C. Council to transmit legislation to Congress in the form of the chair’s choosing, including electronic form. This bill seeks to modernize the method D.C. legislation is transmitted to Congress for the congressional review period.
September 8, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that she will speak on all 14 bills that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (COGR) will mark up on Wednesday. Every bill at the markup will focus on D.C. Thirteen of the bills would repeal or alter local D.C. laws, while the 14th piece of legislation is Norton’s bill to allow D.C. to comply with the Home Rule Act's requirement that local legislation be transmitted to Congress by sending it electronically. Currently the legislation must be printed and physically brought to Congress. D.C. has had difficulties physically transmitting the legislation in recent years, both during the coronavirus pandemic when the Capitol was closed to visitors and while security restrictions were in place after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
September 5, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced their bills to grant the District of Columbia full control over the D.C. National Guard and the Metropolitan Police Department, as the Trump Administration has asserted federal control over the D.C. police department and kept its National Guard deployed in the District’s streets for weeks. The formal introduction of these bills comes after the lawmakers announced in August their intention to do so in response to President Trump’s unprecedented federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployment of the National Guard. The urgency of these measures has only grown as the Administration has reportedly extended the D.C. National Guard’s deployment through November 30 and Congressional Republicans plan more attacks on the District of Columbia’s self-governance. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is expected to mark up several such bills, which would alter or repeal local D.C. laws, next week. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is co-lead in the House of the National Guard bill.