President Donald Trump said the House of Representatives should “immediately” pass a bill that would stop Congress from cutting more than $1 billion from D.C.’s budget – as he continues to level harsh criticism at the city and its leaders.
Trump called for the House vote in a social media post Friday morning.
“The House should take up the D.C. funding ‘fix’ that the Senate has passed, and get it done IMMEDIATELY. We need to clean up our once beautiful Capital City, and make it beautiful again,” the post said in part.
D.C. has been in suspense about the fate of more than $1 billion in the city’s own funds after language in the continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown repealed D.C.’s current year budget and forced a return to the prior year’s spending levels.
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Mayor Muriel Bowser and other District leaders said a cut from Congress to how D.C. can spend city funds would force devastating cuts to public services, the police department and city schools.
In her own social media post Friday afternoon, Bowser said she anticipates action by the House.
“I am pleased that President Trump supports the House immediately passing the DC funding fix, as passed by the Senate, and I look forward to the House’s swift action,” the mayor said. “And with this fix, I look forward to sending a balanced and certified budget to the Council focused on our schools, a clean and safe DC, and a robust growth agenda.”
The Senate voted against the budget change, but the House has not brought the legislation for a vote.
A major lobbying effort by Bowser and others has been underway for weeks.
“The best option is for the House to fix this, and we’re going to stay focused on the House fixing it,” the mayor said on March 17.
Bowser delayed unveiling her 2026 budget plan until the issue is resolved.
When could the House vote on DC’s budget?
The House adjourns for its spring recess on April 11, and House Republican leadership has remained vague on the topic, with Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana saying Tuesday that it was too early to confirm when the House would vote on the budget fix.
“We’re working through that,” Johnson said.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana said earlier this week that the District's claim of financial ruin “sounds overstated."
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Thursday that the April 11 recess provides a natural deadline and a sense of urgency.
“It needs to happen before we go on the next district work period, which means it should occur either next week or the week after next,” Jeffries said.
Speaking before Trump's Friday posting, Jeffries said, “apparently even Donald Trump himself has expressed support for the need to correct this egregious error.”
In remarks at a community meeting in Southeast D.C. on Tuesday, interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Ed Martin said he urged House Republicans to oppose the budget cut.
“I made a phone call to the speaker of the House saying we need that funding. That would be taking funding that we need for our city. That was following the lead of the mayor and the city council. He said he’s going to work it out. It’s gonna be worked out. I mean, we’re not gonna lose that money, and we shouldn’t,” he said.
How Trump is focusing attention on DC
Trump's endorsement of the budget fix comes amid a flurry of attention on the nation's capital, with the president issuing a series of statements and executive orders targeting crime, homelessness, immigration policy and gun control in the District.
On Thursday night, Trump issued an executive order establishing the inter-departmental D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which he said would coordinate with local officials on such things as enforcing federal immigration law, including deporting people living illegally in the city, boosting the law enforcement presence and increasing the speed and lowering the cost of processing applications to carry concealed weapons.
“America’s capital must be a place in which residents, commuters, and tourists feel safe at all hours, including on public transit. Its highways, boulevards, and parks should be clean, well-kept, and pleasant,” the order stated. “Its monuments, museums, and buildings should reflect and inspire awe and appreciation for our Nation’s strength, greatness, and heritage.”
And despite the support for the budget fix, Trump's Friday morning posting also came with criticism of D.C. and a warning: “We need to clean up our once beautiful Capital City, and make it beautiful again.”
"We will be TOUGH ON CRIME, like never before," Trump wrote. "I will work with the Mayor on this and, if it does not happen, will have no choice but to do it myself.”
Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's non-voting delegate in the House, hailed Trump's support for the budget fix and tied the issue into Washington's longstanding and increasingly beleaguered campaign to become the 51st state.
“As surprised as I am to have an occasion to agree with President Trump, in this instance, we agree that D.C. should be able to spend its own local funds at its own locally enacted levels,” Norton, a Democrat, said in a statement. “This ordeal, however, only helps to highlight the need for D.C. statehood so that D.C. can finally govern itself to the same extent afforded to the states, including making decisions about how to use its own local funds.”
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