House Republicans continued to take aim at self-rule in the District of Columbia on Tuesday, advancing a bill meant to block it from being a so-called sanctuary city. The bill, approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on party lines, would prevent D.C. from having any policy that would restrict officials from sharing information about a person’s immigration status with the Department of Homeland Security or from complying with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer request. The bill would provide an exception for individuals coming forward as a victim or witness to a crime. “Our nation’s capital should not reflect a refusal — in fact, a mandated denial — of compliance with federal immigration law,” said Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, the bill’s sponsor. This proposal, ranking member Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia said, was just the latest GOP salvo against the District. “Before I discuss my opposition to this bill … I must ask, are House Republicans trying to sabotage the operations and finances of the District of Columbia, and to what end?” he said. “D.C. should be free to govern itself.” Earlier this month, House Oversight held a hearing on sanctuary cities where Republicans attacked the policy as protecting criminals, while Democrats argued those policies were not just legal but necessary to improve community-police relations and drive down crime rates. A Cato Institute scholar also noted that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born residents and that cities with large immigration numbers in recent years tended to see declining murder rates. Separately, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday his intention to sign an executive order “ending sanctuary cities,” without providing further detail. D.C. has considered itself a sanctuary city for years and took steps during the last Trump administration to strengthen its laws blocking voluntary cooperation with federal deportation efforts. D.C. code requires federal officers to produce a warrant before they cooperate in immigration enforcement. Tuesday’s markup came as the GOP has taken repeated aim at D.C.’s autonomy. Trump has made threats to “take over” the city, while Republicans in both chambers have introduced bills that would end home rule and withhold transportation funds from the city. Earlier this month, Congress passed a continuing resolution that kept spending at fiscal 2024 levels — including for the District, which was already operating under its fiscal 2025 budget. Left unchanged, that would effectively cut the D.C. budget by more than $1 billion. While the Constitution provides Congress plenary power to approve D.C.’s budget, lawmakers have normally deferred to local officials to manage the district’s finances. After the Senate passed the stopgap spending measure earlier this month, it also passed a bill via voice vote to resolve the discrepancy and allow D.C. to operate under its original fiscal 2025 budget. At the same time the Oversight Committee was weighing in on the city’s ability to govern itself, D.C. officials and local advocates were flooding the House office building hallways to lobby lawmakers to go forward with the budget restoration bill. While Speaker Mike Johnson has yet to schedule the bill for a vote, D.C. supporters are hopeful he will do so soon, pointing to Trump’s support. On Monday, Johnson told Politico he was “not sure yet” when he might allow a vote. The committee on Tuesday also advanced a bill that would empower the White House to present reorganization plans for the federal government. And it moved three bills aimed at federal employee unions — one that would charge them for using employee time on union activities, another that would prevent union dues from being deducted directly from paychecks, and a third that would allow a president to renegotiate any collective bargaining agreement entered into before that administration took office. The panel also voted on two nonbinding, privileged resolutions offered by Democrats on the committee: one that would ask the White House for documents related to Elon Musk’s potential conflicts of interest, and another that would request information on the administration’s mass layoffs of federal employees. Republicans blocked both. John T. Bennett contributed to this report.
