D.C. Council begrudgingly approves $23m in spending

The D.C. Council on Thursday approved a mayoral request to spend $23 million in unused cash from the previous year, but not before several members griped during a nearly two-hour debate that they didn’t like feeling pressured by Mayor Vincent Gray.

The testiness from council members started during a morning breakfast meeting during which they said the mayor’s spending proposal had arrived to them only the evening before. At-large Councilman David Catania accused Gray’s budget director of “putting a gun to our head,” while other members questioned whether the mayor was keeping proper tabs on spending within city agencies.