House Votes to Block D.C. From Allowing Noncitizens to Vote

The House of Representatives on Thursday voted to block two Washington, D.C., laws, including one allowing noncitizens to vote.

The Republican-led House, with support from dozens of Democrats, voted 260-162 to repeal a district law giving noncitizens the right to vote in city elections, The Washington Post reported.

The D.C. Council in October passed legislation allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections, arguing that all D.C. residents have a vested interest in schools, public safety, and other local issues.

The House also voted 250-173 to approve a resolution seeking to overturn an overhaul of D.C.'s century-old criminal code that softens the punishment for homicide, robberies, and carjackings.

The D.C. Council overwhelmingly approved a bill last year that would implement a massive overhaul of the district's criminal code. The law is not set to take place for three years, giving law enforcement and court officials time to prepare.

"We have two acts from the Washington, D.C., council that will dilute the vote of American citizens and endanger city residents and businesses," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on the floor Thursday.

Although the U.S. Constitution gives Congress oversight of Washington, D.C., the resolutions likely will not pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The Senate could expedite the criminal code resolution because procedural rules for a disapproval resolution targeting the D.C. criminal code allow any single chamber member to call to bring it to the floor for a vote, rather than going through committee under normal procedures.

The House votes on Thursday marked the first time since 2015 that a disapproval resolution targeting D.C. legislation has made it to the House floor, the Post said.

It has been nearly 30 years since Congress, with the president’s approval, overturned D.C. legislation.

Local politicians have urged Congress to stay out of D.C.’s affairs.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., the district’s nonvoting representative, said there is "never justification for Congress nullifying legislation enacted by the district."

"I can only conclude that the Republican leadership believes D.C. residents, the majority of whom are Black and brown, are unworthy or uncapable of governing themselves," she said on the floor.

The Biden administration on Monday said it opposed both resolutions, describing them as "clear examples of how the District of Columbia continues to be denied true self-governance and why it deserves statehood," the Post reported.

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