Mayor to join protest against federal budget bill

D.C. Mayor Vince Gray has changed his Monday schedule so he can join an evening protest against the federal budget deal that bans the city from spending local tax dollars on abortion.

A schedule issued Monday morning didn’t have Gray attending the 5 p.m. protest outside the Hart Senate office building, but a revised schedule has him joining delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and other city leaders there. The protest organized by D.C. Vote is meant to push Congress to give the District budget autonomy and to not include riders on the federal appropriations bill that will prevent the city from spending on abortions.