The White House is threatening to veto a House bill that would block the District of Columbia government from spending local tax dollars without approval from Congress.
An Office of Management and Budget statement of administrative policy says the White House objects to a GOP-backed bill that would require D.C. to send its budget to Congress for approval, as it has done every year since it was granted “home rule” budget authority in 1973.
This year, D.C. city leaders had planned to forego that step after voters approved a referendum granting the city freedom over its own budget. A judge ruled in the city’s favor when the law was challenged in court, but Republicans argue that the city’s so-called “budget autonomy” law is illegal under the Constitution.
The OMB statement, threatening to veto the measure, says President Obama has long called for authority allowing the District to spend its own local taxes and other non-federal funds without congressional approval.
“The administration is disappointed that the Congress has failed to provide elected leaders in the nation’s capital the most basic authority to spend local tax collections without congressional approval, an authority held by local officials across the nation,” the OMB said in its statement. “Subjecting the District to the lengthy and uncertain congressional appropriations process for its use of local tax collections imposes both operational and financial hardships on the District, burdens not borne by any other local government in the country.
“If the president were presented with H.R. 5233, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill,” the statement added.
The statement also called the measure an “affront” to the residents and elected leaders of the District. The House Rules Committee is meeting Tuesday afternoon to consider how the bill will come to the House floor for a full vote.
