Washington, DC, Region Braces for ‘Devastating’ Cuts from Congress
Local leaders are raising alarms about a stopgap measure in Congress that would trigger a $1 billion budget shortfall for the city, and impact the wider Virginia and Maryland region.
School children, parents, teachers and other DC residents gather inside the Senate Hart Building Atrium on Thursday to protest looming budget cuts.
Photographer: Astrid Riecken/Washington Post via Getty Images
A decision before Congress to strip $1.1 billion from the city budget for Washington, DC, has elected leaders across the metro area scrambling to prepare for the impacts of what the city’s mayor has said would be a devastating blow.
Earlier this week, the majority-Republican House of Representatives passed a stopgap budget measure that would fund the federal government until September and avoid a shutdown. While it’s a continuing resolution, the bill would also increase defense spending, decrease domestic spending and revert the city budget for the District of Columbia to FY 2024 levels, resulting in an immediate and significant budget shortfall of more than $1 billion. Although most Democrats oppose the measure, it appears likely to pass now that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer retreated from his threat to block the bill.