The House Monday moved to install D.C.’s chief financial officer as a permanent fixture of local government.
Since Congress took over the bankrupt District in the late 1990s, the finance office had to be reauthorized every year.
The District Control Board had suggested several years ago that an independent CFO be installed permanently in D.C. government.
Under a bill pending on the House floor Monday — and expected to pass easily — the finance office was given permanent authorization.
It was another vote of confidence in the District government — and in particular, its current chief finance officer, Natwar Gandhi.
“Dr. No,” as he was dubbed for taking a hard-headed, tight-fisted approach to the city’s finances, is adored on Capitol Hill for his work pulling the District out of its financial morass.
“This is a vote for continuity and ongoing fiscal revitalization and recovery,” said David Marin, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who sponsored the authorization.
The Senate has tacked a rider onto the District’s appropriations bill, which would extend Gandhi’s term for two years.
The chief finance officer is supposed to serve at the pleasure of the mayor.
Marin denied that Monday’s authorization was any criticism of the new administration.
“Not at all,” Marin said. “This language was written long before we even knew who the front-runners were.”
